A NEW LIFE
by OWENHAPHNE
Summary: Harry has won the war, but things are different from what he and friends expected. Together, they activate the portal of the veil and Harry enters with the hope of a new life,but when have things ever been easy for Harry. Harry is MOD and he has a much bigger role than just killing dear old Tom.
1. Chapter 1

A NEW LIFE...

STANDARD DISCAIMER: _I do not own Harry Potter, he belongs to J.K ROWLING and I do not own the MARVELVERSE._

AN: _This is my first fic here at fanfiction so I suggest that you go easy on me. I have permission from Arthurgreengrass and he has allowed me to write my fic based on his story A NEW LIFE. While it will have similar beginning, it will be very much different as it will have less elements of X-MEN and more Avengers. In that case all I can only wish for you is to enjoy._

Chapter one: Arrival

 _APRIL 2001_

"I still think this is a very bad idea Harry..." a clearly worried voice said softly.

"I think we have already been through this Hermione…" Harry answered with a little bit of exasperation seeping into his voice." ….and it's not like I have much of a choice here."

"I know but that doesn't make it any better. We can hide Harry; we can settle under a _Fidelius…"_

"But to what end 'Mione…" Harry interrupted her before she heated up in her rant. "…. To what end, do you wish to live all your life a fugitive, always against the authorities? Who are you and what have you done to my friend?" Harry finished with a grin which elicited a few laughs from the rest of the group.

"I always knew that you were capable of extremely inhumane levels of stupidity Potter, but this is taking it to an entirely different level" the cool voice of Blaise Zabini intoned in what would have passed as an indifferent voice but Harry could detect the sadness which the dark skinned Italian was trying to suppress.

"Listen guys…" Harry started now his voice a mixture of exasperation and annoyance…" either way I am going to end up being thrown into _the Veil_. It is better this way I go on my own terms and hopefully Luna's theory and our calculations are accurate."

"It doesn't make it any better on us Harry, what if we are wrong, what if it takes you to some desolate place where demons are waiting just to torture your soul for eternity." Nymphadora Tonks said not even bothering to keep her worry from her voice.

"We have all thoroughly studied the veil with what Luna left us. Nothing will go wrong and even if it doesn't work as a portal like we expect, then I get to meet Nev, Sirius, Luna, Ron, all our fallen friends and most especially my parents." Harry answered passionately while watching each and every one present.

"I have done my part in this world guys, the sheeple have buggered me with the help of the ministry and they plan on humiliating me to their content and while I could fight, I am not exactly at my peak thanks to Azkaban and each one of you deserves better than being persecuted because of me."

Harry ignored the scoffs from his friends and continued.

"Each and every one of you is extremely powerful and bright, use that power and brains which enabled us to beat the Dark Lord with his band of Death Eaters despite our age to change the Wizarding world. Make sure that our efforts were not in vain for my sake and each one of our comrades who were killed during the war you honor their memory and do that for them."

Harry looked at the moist eyes of his friends and knew that he had at last reached to them. One by one they came and embraced him for the last time and Harry suppressed the lump in his throat but a few traitorous tears leaked out of his vibrant emeralds. Hermione came first and almost crushed him with her infamous hug which had just increased in its viciousness as she grew older.

Tonks was followed by Fleur and Gabrielle and the two Veela sisters didn't even bother to reign in their allure as all the males present were immune to it. They gave him chaste kisses on the lips both followed by Susan and then Tracey.

Fred and George came next, the twins were the only remaining members of the extremely large Weasley family and the loss had hit them very hard. Their sense of humor had almost completely disappeared. They each gave him a manly hug and were followed by Zachariah Smith who went back to where Hermione was standing while tears flowed shamelessly from her eyes.

Zabini looked conflicted but his girlfriend Tracey nudged him on the shoulder he stepped forward and gave Harry an extremely tight hug before he swiftly stepped away. All eyes turned to the remaining member of the group who had been watching the proceedings of the group quietly.

"This is stupid Potter and you know it." Harry didn't answer the cold voice, he simply just opened his arms beckoning her to come. She hesitated for a second before she rushed at him and engulfed him into a rib-cracking hug that could give Hermione a run for her money.

"Careful Daph, you may hurt _them_." Harry said in a hoarse voice trying and failing miserably to appear manly.

"You shouldn't leave them Harry; they will need a father." She said her voice breaking as she moved her right hand over the bulge of her stomach.

"Then get them one."

"I am being serious here Harry." Harry opened his mouth to say something..." don't even think about it."

Harry chucked

." Honestly I wasn't going to talk about my godfather." Everyone looked at him with disbelief evident on their faces.

"Fine. But Daphne you are an absolutely beautiful, intelligent woman and any man would be very lucky to be associated with you."

"I don't want any other man; I want you Harry." She argued vehemently.

"I don't have a choice Daph, you need a life, _they_ need a life. And my presence in _their_ life will just rob _them_ of that."

"Life has no meaning to me without you and you know it."

"Then create a new one." Harry answered as if it was the most obvious thing." Create a life that will be ideal for _them_ to live."

Daphne kissed him a soul searing kiss that left them both of them panting and they wouldn't have stopped had Blaise not cleared his throat.

"Be safe Harry. And don't think for any fleeting second that I will name any one of our kids after Snape or Dumbledore." Daphne told him with her face very serious.

Harry raised a curious eyebrow.

"I know you Harry, I wouldn't put it past you to name your kids after the two people most responsible for all the hell you went through all of your life."

Harry laughed despite the situation

"Maybe the person I was before the end of third year would have done exactly that. But I am different."

"That you are." Daphne agreed. "Now you should go before the _Unspeakables_ start looking for their Death chamber."

Harry gave the eight month pregnant beautiful to-be mother of his twin children one last kiss before she stepped back as he approached the _Veil of Death._

"Shouldn't you put on your amour, you know just in case something goes wrong... or you land in a… not friendly place." Hermione suggested nervously even as she took her position.

"I have complete faith in Luna and each one of you guys. Let's just get this over with before I realize that this is a bad idea." Harry said even as he approached the archway that was fluttering slowly in a non-existent breeze.

Hermione, Blaise, The Twins, Fleur, Gabriele and Tonks formed a semi-circle around _The Veil_ while the pregnant Daphne melted in the hands of her best friend Tracey and Zacharias engulfed the two of them in a hug.

" Alright guys let's do this." Harry said more to himself than the other and with more courage than he felt, he took a step and stepped before the archway. The curtain started fluttering faster as if in anticipation for the soul it was about to swallow. The voices from the _Veil_ became a buzz compared to the usual whispers.

The seven members surrounding _The Veil_ raised their wands and started channeling magic into the seven runes that had been drawn around the archway with Harry's blood. The ruins started glowing green not so different from Harry's eyes or the killing curse and the glow became brighter as the seven pumped more magic into the runes.

The curtain to _The Veil_ was now fluttering with such intensity that it looked like a storm was happening on the other side of _The Veil_ and the voices were almost a roar. Harry chanced a look at the seven and he could see that they were sweating due to the strain on their magic.

The light from the runes connected and the darkness behind the curtain started adopting the green light of the runes and soon it was now a bright emerald green color. Harry checked to see that his moleskin pouch was firmly attached to his belt at his waist knowing that anytime now he will be leaving everything dear to him behind.

Suddenly the roar of voices behind _The Veil_ were cut off as if someone had covered a wet blanket on a fire and without sparing a glance behind him knowing the strain the others were under as they tried to keep the portal stable to ensure a safe travel and that he would probably lose the courage, he took a deep breath and stepped into the swirling mass of green.

There was a flash of extremely green light the moment he stepped into the archway and the seven stopped feeding the runes with magic, _not that they had any more magic left to channel into the runes._ They all fell on their knees as they watched in fascination as the green swirled and swallowed Harry before it settled down and _the veil_ reverted back to its usual form and the voices were no more than whispers from time to time.

Daphne silently extracted a locket from the pockets of her robes, which many would have recognised as the locket of Salazar Slytherin himself and everyone managed to touch it. With one final look at _the veil_ , the group disappeared from the death chamber of the DOM without any trace of their presence.

They were all praying to all deities that listening to keep the one person who meant a lot to them to be safe. Their leader, lover, teacher, mentor and savior and above all brother.

Harry opened his eyes and winced from the bright sunlight. He closed them and slowly opened them again to see a bright blue summer sky. If he were to hazard a guess it was probably around noon.

He slowly sat up and observed his surroundings. He was on top of a hill overlooking a very beautiful and breathtaking landscape. The place felt so peaceful, the warm breeze, the sound of birds singing at different tunes and general atmosphere of peace made Harry wish to never move from his position.

"I must I agree with you there Harry" a serene voice that Harry would have recognised anywhere said from behind him. He turned around while at same time trying stand up and ended up falling back on his ass.

Tinkling laughter erupted from her which was quite infectious and he found himself laughing as well.

"Really Luna, I didn't know you find such amusement in my misgivings"

"Oh cut me some slack Harry, it's not every day that you see the most powerful wizard falling on his ass."

"And now she turns to flattery." Harry said with a long suffering sigh and more tinkling laughter erupted from his dead friend.

 _Wait what..._ that brought him back to what had transpired before he reached this point and he jumped up and caught his petite friend in a tight hug.

"Oh Luna, I've really missed you"

"I missed you too Harry, but you will make Hermione jealous from the bone-crushingness of your hug". Luna answered in amusement.

"Is that even a word Luna?" Harry asked while backing off a little but still keeping Luna in his arms and her head in his chest.

She shrugged and gave him her trademark dazzling smile while her silver grey eyes twinkling in a way not so different from Dumbledore.

"It is now"

Harry couldn't argue with that. He simply held her onto his chest in silence enjoying the feel of her body against him. He was too comfortable in the position that he could have stayed there forever with Luna in his arms. And now that he thought about it he had been standing for some time he had not felt any little bit of strain in his body or any change in the environment.

"I take it I'm dead uh?" Harry asked at last seeing that Luna seemed to be willing let him broach the subject.

"No, not exactly dead." She answered with a sigh as she pulled away from his chest and stood at his side watching the landscape.

"So we succeeded, but what is this place?"

Luna was quiet for a moment watching the landscape with a serene smile." It's beautiful, isn't it."

Harry nodded. It was indeed beautiful and he daren't hurry Luna for an explanation knowing she would answer him when she wants.

"You are a special person Harry. Blessed and cursed by fate at the same time. Your life was never yours, thousands of prophecies have been made all over the universe." she paused as if to make sure he is listening.

"You have fulfilled all of them in this universe. Intentionally or by extension, it doesn't matter but each and every prophecy that was made concerning you was fulfilled either by yourself or by the choices you made." She continued.

"You should have been free, moved on to meet your loved ones and all those you care about. Your time in this universe is done."

"Er…what?"

"Your thread of life if you will. You have come to the end of your thread. But…"

Harry could clearly hear the regret in her voice, how it pained her to say whatever she had to say.

"But the manipulations of an old man robbed you of that." She said her silver eyes looking at his emeralds like she felt responsible for what Dumbledore did.

"He manipulated you into coming in possession with the _Hallows_ knowing that if anyone could master their power it would be you Harry."

Unbidden, memories came to the forefront of his mind. A silvery cloak that seemed to flow like water which used to belong to his father but was gifted to him by Dumbledore at Christmas in first year.

The Gaunt family ring that had once been a _Horcrux_ and Dumbledore had put up a convincing argument and Harry had ended up keeping all the _Horcruxes_ after expelling the little fractured soul fragments belonging to Riddle.He had kept them in his moleskin pouch but he had left Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem and Slytherin's Locket with Daphne and Hufflepuff's chalice as well as the Gaunt family ring he had come with them in his pouch.

He remembered the duel he had with Dumbledore right after the death of Luna; where he won allegiance of the beautiful, extremely powerful white wand that he had used in his final fight with Voldemort. Now that he thought about it he could clearly see how the old man had goaded him into the duel. Taking advantage of his legendary temper and blaming him for causing his friend's death.

"The legend of the Hallows is more than just a children's bedtime story Harry. While it doesn't make you the master of Death, mastering their power of the Hallows makes it impossible for your soul to move on." Luna's beautiful voice brought him back to the present.

"You mean like Voldemort?" Harry asked

"Not exactly…er…you are by all intents immortal" Luna said cautiously knowing her next words may not be well received.

"But you said I can't go back, then how am I immortal when my time in the universe is done."

"The 'verse is way bigger than you think Harry."

Harry was quiet for a moment as he tried to understand the little he had so far managed to understand.

"So what now?"

"Like I said Harry, the 'verse is very big. There are very many of them like the one you have been living in."

"So I'll be taken to one of these I take it?" Harry asked in resignation.

Luna beamed at him.

"50 points to Gryffindor Mr. Potter…" Luna said in perfect imitation of McGonagall "…a world where you will have a chance to start anew and on your own terms. Where there is no living up to people's expectations because your mother killed a dark lord."

Harry could see the advantages of this. _Not like I have a choice._

"So are there any similarities between my old universe and the new one."

"Yes, but it will be for you to find out which ones. Though there is no Harry Potter and it is way much advanced in everything compared to the old one."

"so what happens if I die in this new universe."

Luna started fidgeting again.

"Er…your soul will be brought back."

Harry raised an eyebrow knowing there was a catch.

"And what is the price for _recycling_ my soul?"

"Ten other pure souls will be taken in your place." Luna said with a grimace knowing full well what will come next. She was very much aware of Harry's legendary temper; having experienced it first-hand on numerous occasions. Despite never having been on the receiving end of his temper, she had experienced it but usually in her defense.

"And by pure souls I am assuming that it will be children right?" Harry asked in surprisingly calm voice mixed with a little bit of resignation.

"Not necessarily children but for the most part yes." Luna answered cautiously not comforted by Harry's calmness at all and expecting Harry to explode any second.

"What is this place by the way?" Harry's clearly _not_ angry voice brought her back to the present.

"Wha...what uh…" Luna stuttered completely thrown for a loop. Harry just laughed at her.

"Well that is not something you see every day." Harry said between snickers.

"Oh shush you…" Luna said even as a small smile played on her lips." …you are not angry are you Harry?"

Harry shook his head and pulled her into a hug. "I know that I have no say in this, and it's not like it's you who made this decision, you are just a messenger and I would rather save my anger for the one who sent you."

After some time, Luna pulled back with a sigh.

"It's time to go Harry."

"By the way how long have we been here." Harry asked as he pulled back ready for whatever was going to happen.

"Time has no meaning here, but to the rest of the world it has only been ten years since you left."

Harry gaped at her.

"You are serious aren't you?" Harry asked even as he could clearly see the truth in her silver eyes.

"No, Sirius is your godfather silly." Luna answered with a completely straight face making Harry swear under his breath. "But it has indeed been indeed ten years since you left."

Harry shook his head not even bothering to understand how that came to be. To him it felt like he had been here only for a few minutes. He then remembered something and shoved his hand into his moleskin pouch and extracted the three _Deathly Hallows_ and held them in his hand.

"What do I do with these?"

Luna gained a glazed look in her eyes as if she was communing with whoever or whatever deity had sent her to talk to harry. And after sometime her eyes cleared and she gave Harry a dazzling smile.

"You will keep them." She answered simply.

Harry shook his head. While he would have liked the power that comes with the cloak, stone and the Elder wand, he didn't think he was ready to shoulder the power they command nor the responsibility that comes with that power. And as if reading his mind, Luna placated him.

"Oh don't sell yourself short Harry, it doesn't suit you at all." Seeing him ready to protest she continued" …you wouldn't have been able to master _Hallows_ if you had not been deemed unworthy of the power. And about responsibility, all you have to do is be your usual self, and remember, you don't have any reputation you have to live up to in this new universe."

While not entirely convinced, Harry grudgingly accepted the three items and he as was about to put them back into the pouch, Luna stopped him again. She waved her hand in an intricate pattern which Harry didn't even bother to follow, he could feel magic gathering around the two of them. She closed her eyes in concentration and suddenly the three powerful artifacts started glowing and Harry just stopped himself in time from dropping them from his surprise.

With a gesture from Luna, the three glowing artifacts were levitated from Harry's hands. _The Invisibility Cloak_ folded itself and made the shape of a triangle, The _Resurrection Stone_ settled in the middle of the triangle and _The Elder Wand_ settled diagonally in front of the other two making the familiar symbol of _The Deathly Hallows_.

And with another gesture from Luna, the three glowing _Hallows_ disappeared in a flash of emerald light. Harry blinked at that, not understanding what exactly had just transpired in that episode. He opened his mouth with the hope of getting an explanation from Luna but instead a hiss of pain is all what escaped from his lips.

Harry fell down while clutching at his chest that felt like it was on fire. He bit his lips trying to muffle the whimpers of pain and then just as suddenly as the pain had come, it disappeared. Harry stayed on ground panting as he recovered from the pains. He looked up only to see a non-repentant Luna smirking at him.

"You find this amusing uh." He managed to his in between his gasps.

"Oh don't be such a baby, Harry. I know for a fact that you have faced worse from Tom."

"You should have at least warned me." He retorted as he managed to get back to his feet.

"I know." Luna answered serenely her smile still in place. Harry just shook his head, no matter how much he tried he could never stay mad at her for long.

"So what exactly happened?" Harry asked as he lifted his shirt over his head so he may have a look at his chest. He ignored Luna's slight blush in favor of admiring the tattoo on his chest. It was in the form of the symbol of _The Hallows;_ a triangle with a circle in the middle and a single line across.

"The three items are now part of your magic now, you can command their respective powers with a mere thought. You won't need a wand to perform magic and with a simple thought you will be completely invisible even from myself and the same will apply to the powers of the stone." Luna explained and Harry looked at her in gratitude.

"Now while I still want to spend some time with you Harry, it is time to go. And remember if you want to talk to me and I am free, I'm only a thought away." Luna said and Harry knew a dismissal when a heard one. Before he could ask her about the means of transport he will be using, she gave him a wink and told him.

"Oh and Harry, this will not be very pleasant."

Harry blinked at that and before he could inquire what she meant, his world burst in pain. He felt like his very body was on fire, as if his very soul has been dipped in acid. His mouth opened in a silent scream and he closed his eyes while the pain continued. He prayed to anything listening for the pain to stop but it was like the pain in his just increased every second. It made the _Cruciatus curse_ feel like a pinch in comparison.

The pain kept increasing in a crescendo up to the extent where he felt his body was going to disintegrate and then all of a sudden it stopped and he hit the ground with a thud and immediately passed out.

 _APRIL 2011_

Nicholas Joseph Fury, otherwise known as Nick Fury buy almost everyone to those who have met him would describe him as a grizzled old super-spy who is paranoia in the form of a human. And they would convince you that if you looked in any 21st dictionary, you would see his photo right there.

He was as bald as they come, having lost his eye during the war from a friend and therefore his bald head, an eye patch on his left eye and black trench coat are considered as his trademark features. He was a hardened warrior who had fought, killed and watched his comrades being killed. He was a man who hated war so much that anything that hinted on a budding war was crushed with reckless abandon.

That is why he was always in a very bad mood for almost the whole day for the past year. Super powered individuals were popping up everywhere almost on a daily basis. It was no surprise that each one of these individuals felt that their powers were best used causing crime.

The government itself was not helping; for long he had strived for the passing of _The Avengers Initiative_ but he was denied all the time. While the SHIELD agents were trained and had state-of-the art weapons, they were always out matched by the individuals with super powers.

The likes of Dr. Banner and Magneto always made him wish he had hair so he could pull it out all over again. The magnetic mutant had managed to somehow escape from the escape proof; devoid of metal; prison where he had been stashed by SHIELD. His friend Charles had assured him that his little band of mutants had things under control but it went without saying that Fury had SHIELD agents patrolling about the X-mansion incase anything out of place happened.

A shame that he could not put one of his agents inside the mansion so that he can have more first-hand information of what the mutants were up to. It was not like he hated mutants, he knew very well that they had no choice in being born like that, in fact if they had been under his…er… someone's control then the country would have benefited a lot. They were so much of a wild card for his liking.

As if the mutants were not a problem of their own, Fury also had a problem of aliens who kept popping up from nowhere from time to time if the reports from the Fantastic Four were any indication. And that is not talking about the prince of Asgard and his little brother. It was a good think that the study of the Tesseract was going smoothly.

It was therefore the subject of aliens that found him standing the most secure cell in the world that had been built to hold the strongest man on the planet. With him was the Ironman also known as Tony Stark still in his suit and standing on Fury's right was Natasha Romanoff also clad in her skin tight cat suit as they watched the only individual in the cell who was most definitely not The Hulk.

"You think he will be waking up anytime soon?" Tony Stark asked getting impatient.

"Go home Stark, no one asked you to stay here." Furry answered gruffly though it was all he could take not to get into the cell and wake their prisoner.

The boy er… young man had been unconscious for about 16hrs since he had been brought in by Stark, Agent Romanoff and Agent Barton. It was just luck that, the portal that deposited the body of the young man just a few meters from the point where Stark had been held a few years ago. As fate would have it, the two SHIELD agents had accompanied Stark back to see what they could salvage from there and a simple call from Fury had them there in a moment.

"And miss seeing a pissed off alien when he wakes up in a prison cell? Not happening." Stark scoffed.

"He looks pretty human to me." Romanoff pipped in.

"Of course he looks human, it wouldn't do for an alien to stand out where he is easily spotted. They always appear under disguise."

"You have watched too many movies Stark, and you are beginning to think like a kid." Romanoff retorted and spared the man in the Iron Suit a single glance.

"Are you sure there is absolutely nothing about him in our database Stark." Fury asked bringing the two out of their arguments.

"Nope, there is a Daniel Radcliffe who looked like him when he was twenty; though Danny wears glasses and is currently 50years old." Tony answered confirming his thoughts that that was an alien.

"I think he is waking up" Natasha informed her companions and sure enough the young man was stirring.

Waking up numerous times in the hospital wing, Harry knew never to open his eyes immediately, as he had realized people had a habit of putting very bright light above his head. Therefore, when he regained consciousness, instead of opening his eyes he spread his senses to first get a mental picture of where he was. _And how the hell can I spread my senses._

Shelving that for later contemplation, probably something Luna forgot to mention like she seemed to enjoy doing, Harry could see or rather _feel_ that he was in some kind of cell, and a very strong one at that but that didn't matter as he could just apparate out of it. There were three people outside his cell though he couldn't make out whether they were female or not.

He could feel a slight headache and he knew that his mind was probably in disarray and probably his occulmency shields had been shattered and would need to be rebuilt from scratch.

"Stupid cute woman, couldn't even warn me of anything." Harry growled under his breath.

He heard someone clearing his throat but he ignored them. Cursing Luna again, he dived into his mind and blinked. There was absolutely _nothing_ ; he felt like he was just hanging in space and the moment that thought registered he immediately felt himself falling and jerked his conscious out of his mind plane.

He jerked up into a sitting position and took a few deep breaths.

"Well that was dam scary." _And what the hell was that._

He heard the person clear his throat again but he ignored them again as he tried to understand what was really happening. how come there was completely nothing in his mind, even when he had not mastered occulmency, he could find his mind but now he could not find anything, as if his mind was being hidden from him. And that was when it hit him. _Of course the cloak, it's now part of my magic and it only makes sense that my mind would be under the effects of the cloak._

Before he could go back to verify his discovery, the man cleared his throat again and Harry was now getting irritated.

"I could offer you a cough drop if I wasn't a prisoner." Harry said as he lay back on the bed and put his hands behind his back, not even bothering to open his eyes.

"Who are you?" Fury growled without preamble.

"Harry Potter. Now if you don't mind, I am in the middle of something here, I will call you when am done." and with that he went back to his mental plane completely ignoring Fury's questions.

"Where did you come from?"

...

"Who sent you?"

...

"Why are you here?"

…..

"Are you even listening to me?" Fury growled getting annoyed with Stark's snickering.

"I'm surprised you actually managed to figure it out Fury." Tony said as he enjoyed Fury's irritation. It wasn't every day that he found someone who can rile up that fast.

"Shut up Stark and check whether the name is in our database or not."

"Nope, Jarvis says it's not. It sounds to me like a name right out of fiction."

"What do you think he is doing." Romanoff asked, ignoring Stark.

Harry tuned out the conversation going on outside his cell. He reappeared in in his mental plane and immediately willed the effects of the Cloak to de-activate.

" _Bloody hell"_

The pace looked like a herd of Hippogriffs had just been plying tag from his mind. The memories were floating everywhere in the form of little balls of light, all the buildings he had constructed to categorize the memories had been destroyed to the foundations and the defenses he had created were nowhere to be seen.

" _Well this is quite a handful. Good thing I no longer need mental defenses with the Cloak being part of my magic as the only way someone could get in my mind was if I wanted them to and my magic felt my intentions."_

That made things easier as now all he needed was to categorize his memories; while that would take a lot of time it was much easier that creating a new mental palace and then creating defenses for the palace he creates. For the time being at least, he needed to just put them all together in order to get rid of the headache and he would sort them later, hopefully after escaping from this place. And with that thought he set to work.

Two hours later, Harry retreated from his mental plane and recognised a plate of food on a stool that had been put beside his bed. It was only then that he realized that he was _very_ hungry and could probably swallow a hippogriff and ask for more. He had actually literary not eaten anything in ten years.

Casting a simple charm on the plate to ensure that he didn't run out of food before he sated his hunger, (while wizards couldn't conjure food, they had more than enough ways to ensure that if they came across any, it would be enough to last them as much as they desired.). Harry then started demolishing the food with such enthusiasm that even Ron would have trouble keeping up.

Harry knew that he was somehow being watched and that they would notice that he had eaten more food than he had been given but he honestly didn't care. He wasn't even planning to hang around any longer than necessary.

However, he needed information about the new universe he had been sent to. He could easily read the mind of the next person he came across but while he was a very accomplished Legilimens, he hated doing it unless it was absolutely necessary. That didn't stop him from reading surface thoughts to get the names of people and to ensure that whoever he interacted with wasn't telling him lies.

" That's a very handy trick you've got there." a soft voice just outside of his cell announced a person's presence making him pause in stuffing himself. He was rather impressed that she had managed to arrive and stay outside his cell without him realizing but in his defense, he was rather busy handling more important affairs.

Harry looked around where he was seated on his bed, to see pieces of food lying around him and he shook his head.

"I wouldn't exactly call eating like a pig a 'trick', my lady."

Harry looked at the lady and a smile made its way on his lips, though it looked rather ridiculous with half of his face covered in food. The first he noticed was that she was a redhead; her hair falling just below her neck. She had a heart shaped face that looked a bit like Tonks in her base form but lower cheekbones but the same expression of a woman who has earned her place in a male dominated world.

Her green eyes which a shade lighter than his own were watching him in a mixture of curiosity and amusement. She was clad in a skintight cat suit that hugged her in all the right palaces thereby accentuating her rather prominent curves and the fact that she was standing with her legs slightly apart did nothing to diminish that effect, rather the opposite.

"That is not what I am talking about, Mr. Potter and you know it." Natasha answered with her face devoid of any outstanding emotion. "…though I must commend you on that as well, it's quite impressive if I do say so myself. And you have been unconscious for two days so it's understandable"

"Sorry about that, I haven't eaten anything in a very long time ..." Harry sheepishly grinned at her and with a wave of his hand, he vanished all the bits of food on his face and bed, leaving only that remaining on the plate.

"I am sorry you have me at a disadvantage my Lady, as you seem to be aware of my name but I unfortunately don't know yours." Harry said as he stood up and approached the glass separating them.

"Agent Romanoff. Though you didn't answer my question."

"Oh… maybe it's because I never heard one, I presumed it was merely an observation." Harry answered with a raised eyebrow having been in such situations with Dumbledore enough times to know how the game is played.

"I guess it wasn't really a question." Natasha conceded with a slight smile. "Though I would really be interested in knowing how you did that."

"You meant to say SHIELD didn't you?" a slight widening of her eyes was the only indication of her surprise and any person would have missed it but Harry who had been watching her saw it as if her eyes had been as wide as saucers.

"And how exactly do you know about SHIELD?"

"I have my ways my dear." Came the mysterious response.

" … so when will I be… er… discharged from here. I mean I love this place, pretty nice company here in my cell but I have a life to live you know."

"Well maybe if you were willing to tell us about yourself, we would probably be willing to make sure your _life_ is actually real."

Harry raised an eyebrow at that.

"I am sorry; I don't understand what that is supposed to mean."

"Our database has records of almost everyone and there is completely no record of anyone called Harry Potter; neither are there records of anyone that matches your features."

Harry frowned as he had not thought of that before, he should have realized that there would be agencies with records and his appearance would alert some people. He had not expected to deal with such this soon. Honestly, he wasn't even sure of what he had even expected when he agreed to this madness. _Then again, it's not like I had much of a choice in the matter._

"And there is the fact that our satellites caught you appearing out of some kind of portal. So you will need to understand why we would be interested in you." Natasha continued, oblivious to Harrys thoughts.

 _Right, and they are apparently more advanced in technology._

"While I appreciate the interest most especially when it's coming from a beauty like you, I think I will pass."

"Unfortunately Mr. Potter, you don't have much of a choice and unless we determine that you are not a threat you will have to stay there. Well unless you are ready to cooperate and tell us what we want." Natasha

"And if I just decide to leave without getting permission?" Harry asked with a smirk.

"That would be unfortunate Mr. Potter…" Natasha said with a smirk of her own "…though I assure you that cell you are occupying was designed to hold the strongest …man on the planet as well as all people with certain gifts that may be similar."

Now _that_ caught Harry's interest. It's not every day that one gets a chance to escape from an escape-proof prison. And it wasn't like this would be the first time. _But then again, Azkaban was a wizard prison and this one is for muggles._ And this was as good a time as any to test the extent and truth in Luna's gifts. _And the fact that there are others like me makes things easier._

" That's all well and good but I unfortunately don't plan to stick around; though I wouldn't mind seeing that beautiful face again, Natasha dear." Harry winked at her and shimmered out of existence right before her eyes while at the same time casting a _silencing bubble_ around himself.

Natasha blinked at the clearly empty room for a few seconds before her brain registered that someone had actually escaped from an escape-proof prison. She immediately activated her comm to connect with Fury and spoke clearly while getting her gun from the holster on her hip.

"Er Director, Potter has vanished from The Cube."

"What do you mean he has _vanished;_ I was under the impression that you were interrogating him." Fury growled back, clearly not impressed.

"I was but he just disappeared right before my eyes."

"That should be impossible. Contact Stark ASAP and let him check whether his anti-teleporting tech has been compromised."

"No need for that my dear Black Widow…" Tony's voice pipped in. "…and no, the anti-teleporting tech has not been compromised, he must still be inside the Cube."

"And what did I tell you about hacking into our system Stark?" Fury asked though there was more resignation than heat in his voice.

"Sorry." Stark said sounding anything but. "You must admit that this guy is more interesting than Banner or those Mutants. I mean the guy according to Jarvis should still be inside but not even a heat signature can be detected."

"Unless of course he managed to somehow pass through your completely _awesome_ ant-teleporting tech." Natasha pipped sarcastically.

"Ha-ha, very funny Romanoff, I will have you know that I created that technology myself."

"Yeah and apparently couldn't hold someone who has been unconscious for the last two days and has been awake for less than forty minutes."

"You really need to work on your sense humor; either that or you need to get laid and I wouldn't exactly be against the idea of helping you out."

"Could we please keep our minds on the situation." Fury growled snapping them back to the present.

"Well about that, it would seem that our friend has just vacated the cube four seconds ago." It was quite clear how much it pained Stark to admit it.

"So you can track him." Natasha asked as she got ready to fight in case Potter made a mistake of attacking her.

"No I can't. He is somehow able to hide himself as well as hoodwink Jarvis and I can't know when he is around, only after he has left."

Harry who had been eavesdropping on the conversation was very impressed. Both with the power of the cloak as well as the level at which the people of this universe were in terms of technology.

he heard a loud voice ordering the sealing of all exits and he smiled to himself. He was pleasantly surprised that the so called _anti-teleportation_ technology did not stop him from apparating. _Then if it was created to stop people like me as Natasha said, then how am I able to apparate?_

Harry shrugged and decided to forget that for the time being. He silently followed Natasha along the ship; _Helicarrier,_ as she headed to the meeting room for debriefing. Harry was having a bit of hard time matching her long and sure strides. Despite being slightly shorter and smaller than him, Harry found himself panting slightly while trying and failing not to be left behind.

He made a mental note to work on his physical fitness and try to avoid relying on magic too much knowing he could easily find himself in a situation where he is incapable of using his magic. He cast a mild levitation charm on himself and floated just behind the beautiful redhead.

Under normal circumstances, this would have been very exhausting as he would be using a lot of magic in maintaining the levitation as well as well as controlling the direction. It would be way much later before Harry realizes that little fact. The duo reached the board room or rather meeting room to find Fury, Stark, Maria Hill, Coulson, Clint and Natasha herself.

"I still think we should alert everyone on the Ship, sealing the exits has already put everyone on their toes as it is." Clint started the moment Natasha settled into her seat and the door was locked.

"Telling everyone will just cause unnecessary panic, and it's better that the Potter issue is kept quiet as much as possible; you never know who will be listening."

"So what do we do now?" Maria Hill asked and everyone looked at Stark.

"There is not much I can do right now, he seems to have extremely high tech and unless he wants reveal himself I don't think we shall be able to find him." He answered with a shrug while plopping his legs on the table.

"Well that gives credence to the suspicions by our team studying the images." Phil Coulson said bringing the attention to himself.

"Our technical team suspects that it was a time portal. From what we have seen of Potter, he is probably from the future and Mr. Stark just made the suspicions more probable." He further explained.

The group was quiet for a few seconds as they absorbed that information.

"Agent Romanoff, what do you think." Fury asked.

"From what I saw down there in the Cube, he is either an enhanced or a mutant."

"Yeah, no normal human can eat that amount of food that fast and still manage to escape the most secure prison that easily." Tony pipped in.

"His talent for clearing food apart…" Natasha said with a mild glare directed at Stark." … he had bits of food all over his face and the bed. However, he just waved his hand and everything vanished.

"Well that changes things. However, we shouldn't completely rule out the possibility of time travel." Stark said. "I managed to get the video of the portal; Jarvis has analyzed it and seems to believe that it was actually a time portal."

As they contemplated that, Fury's cell phone vibrated and swiftly withdrew it. He liked to believe that he had the most secure phone in the world and very few people could access it.

"Yes please." He growled.

" _Ah Fury, this is Charles, Charles Xavier."_ Fury was at least happy for once to hear from his old…comrade.

"Good to hear from you Charles; though I am wondering how you managed to get access to my private number."

Charles chuckled.

" _Now that would be telling. But that is not why I called you, maybe we can meet sometime and share a few secrets. God only knows you need to loosen up a bit."_

"I am sure." Fury answered clearly not amused.

" _Anyway, I wanted to talk about the mutant who is currently at your little flying ship."_

"What do you know about him." Fury asked not even surprised that Xavier was aware of Potter.

" _Well… nothing much other than the fact that his mutant power activated two days ago and he is extremely powerful."_

"And what exactly is his mutant power." Fury asked now completely intrigued.

" _Unfortunately, while Cerebro can help me find a mutant or their general location, it doesn't tell me their powers and we can only determine them with the help of the person in question. And that is why I will be arriving at your Ship in ten minutes."_

"What."

" _Now that is not something you don't witness every day. See you in ten minutes old boy." And with that he hung up._

"Well that was interesting." Tony Stark said.

"Do you know anything about privacy Stark?"

"Of course _Nick old boy_ "Tony answered unapologetically.

"Maybe you should explain to the rest of us who are not interested in eavesdropping on private conversations." Natasha asked.

"Potter is a mutant." Fury said.

"And what exactly is a mutant?" another voice asked that didn't belong to any of the people in the room. There was a slight shimmer where the voice came from as Harry revealed himself and he found eight guns and a bow and arrow pointing at him, only Stark didn't react.

"Whoa guys, I just want a little bit of information and I will leave you to continue your conversation." Harry said raising his hands in a gesture of peace as well as in preparation in case he needed to conjure a shield if the conversation went downhill.

"Say whatever you want about the little alien, but you must admit he has style."

"Thanks Mr. Stark, it's always a relief to know that someone around here has a head on their shoulders."

"Anytime little alien." Tony answered happily.

A/N: Sorry about the lame ending, I realized I had gone beyond the number of words I had planned for and had to cut it short. Anyway, I am not a native English speaker, so please bear with me. And before anyone complain, I do have plans for the twins.


	2. Chapter 2

A NEW LIFE…Chapter 2: Settling in.

 _Disclaimer; I do not own Harry Potter, he belongs to J. k ROWLING and I do not own the Marvelverse._

Chapter 2: Settling in.

Harry slowly lowered his hands to indicate that he didn't have any malicious intentions. While he could easily fight his way from here, or even apparate away in case he was attacked, Harry wanted to have as few enemies in this world as possible. And most especially not a clearly powerful organization as SHIELD seemed to be. He was very sure that they would try to hunt for him to the end of the world and he had experienced enough hiding in his old world to last him a life time. Then again, this was another lifetime, but that was beside the point.

In the earlier stages of the war right after his fourth year, Harry had been hiding from the ministry as it blamed him for the death of Cedric Diggory. After the resurrection of Voldemort, Minister Fudge in all his greatness had accused him of causing mass panic in the hopes of becoming minister of magic. With the help of carefully worded articles in _The Daily Prophet,_ the people of the wizarding world were baying for Harry's blood.

Voldemort, the little sneaky snake that he was had taken advantage of this and had laid low for three years. This simply proved to the people that the minister was right. Voldemort had spent the three years gathering a very vicious army that he used to almost lay the wizarding world to waste.

Harry however, didn't spend the three years mopping or sulking, he had used the time to train under the formidable wards of #12 Grimmauld place. Sirius had taken advantage of his newly acquired freedom to properly claim his Headship at Gringotts. The two had been pleasantly surprised that when Dumbledore and Barty Crouch had forced Harry to compete in a tournament meant for adults, the Goblet of fire had considered Harry an adult and had forced his magic to evolve to the point where he was considered an adult.

Therefore, when he escorted Sirius to claim his lordship (under his invisibility cloak), the two were informed that Harry was eligible to claim his Lordship. Another pleasant surprise came when Harry provided his blood to prove his identity, only to discover that he was eligible to claim both the Potter and Peverell Lordships.

Claiming the two Lordships had brought many unexpected but not unappreciated boons for Harry. By the time Voldemort felt it was time to grace the wizarding world with his serpentine face, the sheep that made up the wizarding world started crying out to Harry to come and save them.

"Listen guys, I don't want any trouble with you." Harry said as he took his seat next to the still seated Stark while the guns pointing at him followed his movements.

"Why are you here?" asked Fury.

"I am assuming that you guys brought me here, because last I remember I was in some kind of desert only to wake up here."

Fury glared at him and the intensity of the glare wasn't lessened at all due to him having one eye.

"Where did you come from?"

"Er… England"

"Are you a time traveler?" this time it was Coulson.

"Well… not exactly… well maybe, seeing that I left England in 2001 but apparently it is 2011 here."

"Are you saying you didn't come here intentionally?" Fury asked with a frown.

"I didn't choose where to go, I just wanted to go somewhere." Harry replied.

"Why?"

"To start over." Harry answered with a shrug.

"What do you mean by to start over?" Clint asked.

Harry looked at the bow and arrow welding man like he was he was a very frustratingly dumb kid. Before he could begin to speak, he was interrupted by Natasha.

"What do you want from us."

"Honestly, nothing other than to leave me alone and I won't bother you."

"Not until we are sure that you don't plan to cause trouble. You will have to be kept under our custody up to then." Fury answered immediately.

"And how do you plan to… keep me under your er custody." Harry asked in amusement while crossing his arms across his chest and plopping his feet on the table. This action didn't amuse Fury in the least portraying that Harry was so confident in his powers whatever they were that he didn't seem concerned that there were weapons pointing at him.

Fury glared at Harry who just looked back not even affected by the glare that always made many SHIELD agents behave like guilty high school kids in detention. He had an infuriating smile he had adopted from Daphne that showed that he knew something the other didn't. The smile had always miffed him when directed at him by the beautiful Ice Queen and he seeing Fury's one eye twitching, he realized that it was actually working just like it used to work on him.

"Not that I want to break this rather interesting mating dance between you love birds, it would seem that our mutant guest is here." Stark said and as if on cue, the door to the room opened and a bald white man entered the room followed by a very beautiful dark skinned woman with white hair.

" _Luna's tits_ , what is with the women of this world?" Harry exclaimed gaping at the dark skinned angel who had just entered with the bald man.

The lady was clad in a black skintight spandex suit which hugged her snugly in all the right places, accompanied by knee high boots. The suit had an X over her left breast and her belt had a huge buckle in form of an X. She was obviously taller than Natasha and Harry's brain supplied that while Natasha's hips were wider, the new lady's bosom was bigger.

"Luna's what?" Tony asked in amusement that was then that Harry realized what words he had used in swearing and chuckled to himself.

"You are welcome Mr. Xavier. This is Mr. Potter, he may be a bit unhinged, but I believe he is the person you came here to see." said Natasha helpfully.

"Er… hello Mr. Potter, I am Charles, Charles Xavier otherwise known as Professor X. And my colleague here is Ororo Munroe also known as Storm." The bald man introduced himself along with his escort.

"Not the best introduction I've been given but the pleasure is all mine Mr. Xavier, Ms. Munroe." Harry said with a slight bow making Xavier chuckle.

"I like to think that man's sanity is just a matter of perspective Mr. Potter." Harry wondered whether Dumbledore had been reincarnated in this world and half expected his brown eyes to begin twinkling any minute.

"Anyway…" Charles continued oblivious to Harry's musings "… I understand that you are aware that you are a mutant." He ended his statement more like a question.

"Maybe if you told me what a mutant is, then I could answer your question."

"Are you saying that you don't know what mutant is?" Xavier asked looking at Harry with a frown.

Harry then felt something brushing at the outer layers of his mind, a bit like legilimency though more refined and subtler; and if Harry hadn't been so intimate with his mind, he would have probably missed it. Even Harry who considered himself a master Legilimens couldn't match the subtleness of the prob.

Without any warning, Xavier was ripped from his wheelchair and shoved against the wall directly opposite Harry.

"Keep out of my mind old man." Harry snarled glaring at the old man. He had had enough of grey haired old men snipping around in his mind back home and he was not going to put up with old ones.

While the SHIELD members who had lowered their weapons looked from Harry to the suspended Professor in confusion and surprise at the attack as well as the display of power, Tony Stark seemed to be aware of what was going on and he tensed ready for a fight.

Ororo's eyes became white orbs and she stepped in front of the Professor, her hands crackling slightly with lightning while taking on a stance in anticipation of a fight.

"I… I am sorry… Mr. Potter, could you…reduce on the pressure please...ca …can't breathe." Xavier panted at the wall and the lightning in Storm's hands increased in intensity as her white orbs in form of eyes glared at Harry in warning.

Harry held Xavier at the wall for a little bit longer and the old man's face was purpling due to have little oxygen heading to his lungs. All this time Harry was staring at Storm as if daring her to attack him and just as she was about to do just that, He released the man and with a gesture of his hands slowly lowered him back into his wheelchair where he took huge gulps of air. Storm immediately dispelled the lightning and rushed towards the old professor while her now beautiful blue eyes glared at Harry.

"I never realized that oxygen could be so sweet." Xavier said when his lungs had consumed enough oxygen to allow him to speak.

"I'm sorry sir, but I don't like people who violate other people's privacy just because they are capable of doing it. Not to mention that I have some nasty experiences with Leglimens." Harry said not sounding sorry at all knowing that if the old man tried reading his mind again he would more than just shoving him on a wall.

"It's fine Mr. Potter..." Xavier waved him off." …we all get carried away from time to time due to our powers. And I just found it hard to believe that anyone would not be aware of mutants and like any other person with powers I decided to verify for myself rather than ask you to clarify and for that I am truly sorry."

 _Well that was not expected._ From his experience, most people if found themselves in that kind of position, they would just try to justify their actions. Then again, the experience he had was from Dumbledore and his ilk. Harry could see the man was truly apologetic making him dispel the idea that he was Dumbledore incarnated.

"Good; now can you tell me what a mutant is."

"A mutant, Mr. Potter is a person born with extraordinary powers. For example, Storm here as her name suggests has powers to control elements related to the weather while I am a telepath as you have seen." Xavier explained in the simplest terms without bothering to go into details of the X gene and how the structure of mutants is different from that of other humans.

"Does that mean then that a mutant has only one particular power?" Harry asked with a frown.

"Well, for the most part yes but I know of a certain young lady who can use both telepathy and telekinesis. Why do you ask…?"

"If that is the case, then I am not a mutant." Harry shrugged.

"What… but we just saw you using telekinesis and you seemed quite adept at it…." Xavier was now completely confused; an experience he wasn't entirely familiar with.

"I... don't think so?"

"So what was that, it sure looked like telekinesis to me." Stark said with a shrug.

"Not everything is always what it appears to be Mr. Stark." Harry stated philosophically feeling like Dumbledore at the moment.

Xavier chuckled slightly at that.

"Indeed Mr. Potter, though I'm quite curious about what kind of power that was if you are quite sure it wasn't telekinesis."

Harry considered his options. On one hand, he could tell them about his magic and gain their trust but he would be breaking the statute of secrecy as it seemed these guys didn't know about magic like he had initially thought. Telling them about magic had both advantages and disadvantages but he was not sure which outweighed the other.

While telling them about his powers would earn him powerful allies and help him avoid equally powerful enemies, it could also earn him enemies as he was aware from experience that people feared the unknown and there was a possibility that these people would try to arrest him and experiment on him to find his source of powers. The key word here being _try_. While he could handle all the people in the room well enough, he wasn't sure he was ready to deal with the effects of er… handling them. So he decided to go for the middle ground; he would tell them very little about his magic and if they proved to be a problem, he would simply _disappear_ completely from their radar.

His internal musings didn't take more than a minute and he had been staring at Fury intently. The older man was beginning to get a bit unnerved by the stare and just he was about to speak up, Harry looked around the room and he smirked at the expectant faces.

"Magic." He answered them simply and his sudden answer startled his audience

"What?" Stark asked eloquently.

"What I did was Magic not telekinesis."

Clint and Coulson scoffed, Fury raised an eyebrow Stark frowned while Xavier and Natasha were looking at him intently contemplating his words, Ororo's widened slightly.

"Are you sure Mr. Potter?" Xavier asked him looking at him with the same look.

"You can't be believing such nonsense… are you, there is no such thing as magic." Clint said with while looking at Xavier incredulously.

"I can assure you magic is real Mr. Burton; I know a few people who are capable of wielding magic… though I have never seen one use it like Mr. Potter here." The old mutant said and then added to Harry" … perhaps another demonstration, preferably not on my person this time."

Before Harry could answer or Clint could argue, the door opened and Fury or rather a person who looked like a perfect copy of Fury stuck his head in the doorway and he spoke in Fury's voice startling everyone in the room, except Harry of course.

"Unfortunately Harry doesn't do stage shows just for the satisfaction of his audience but..." he trailed when he seemed to at last notice the guns pointing at him and he removed his head and swiftly shut the door. Natasha who was nearest to the reached in swift strides and opened it but there was no one there or any indication of anyone being there before.

"Very impressive Mr. Potter…" Xavier exclaimed bringing the attention of everyone from Natasha who was still looking outside the door in confusion. Harry tipped his cup of he was just sipping from that he had conjured while the others were distracted by his illusion.

"Like Fury said, I don't do stage shows, so will have to take my word for it." Harry told them, his eyes twinkling in amusement as he took another sip from his tea while the rest of ye members in the room looked at him in silence.

"Well, I am sure we shall see more of your magic later but the fact still remains that you are a mutant, as Cerebro has never led me astray." Xavier said breaking the silence.

"Who or what is this Cerebro?" Harry asked curiously.

"Cerebro is a… machine for lack of a better word that helps me find mutants, it tells me the general direction and sometimes I can be able to talk to them telepathically." The professor explained. "Unfortunately, it doesn't help me in finding out the particular powers the person possesses as well as the level of their powers."

"isn't it possible that Cerebro might have confused this…magic for the mutant gene." Fury asked skeptically.

Xavier was quiet for a few seconds as he concentrated Fury's question with a frown before he shook his head.

"While I can't be entirely sure, it is unlikely as it is programmed to find only mutants." The old mutant answered, his frown still in place." Unless of course your magic is a form of mutation and I highly doubt that."

"isn't there some sort of way we can check to see other just relying on this Cerebro person?" Harry asked.

"Cerebro is a machine Mr. Potter and you will need to come with us back to the mansion where we can study you blood to see if you have the mutant gene in your blood." a bemused Xavier answered barely containing his amusement.

Harry though wasn't paying much attention to the old telepath, the idea of bald old men tinkering with his blood didn't appeal to him in any way; memories of Wormtail very clear in his head.

"Well in that case I will pass."

"What do you mean?" Xavier asked surprised.

"If the only way to prove whether I'm a mutant or not is barmy old men playing around with my blood, then I will just wait until other methods have been discovered." Harry answered while standing up and with a wave of his hand, he banished the cup of tea he had been sipping from. "Well, if that is all, I'll see you around I guess."

Natasha raised her gun again pointing at him and she was swiftly followed by Clint and Maria Hill while Fury just sighed as he rubbed his forehead not even bothering to raise his gun. Seeing Potter's confident look, he knew that the young man was very sure of whatever talents he had, he also knew that it would be extremely hard to contain him seeing that they were not aware of the extent of his powers.

"Where exactly are you going?" Tony Stark asked him making sure that his voice was neutral.

Harry was caught off guard by the question and he turned to Stark – completely disregarding the guns pointing at him – and raised a questioning eyebrow at the genius billionaire.

"Well… technically you are an alien…" Stark said by way of an explanation. "…so I am quite you don't know anyone in this world so I'm just wondering where you plan to go from here."

"Yeah, there is that." Harry said with a frown knowing that the man was right. He wasn't sure where to go from here; the only place he could go was the wizarding world and he wasn't entirely sure whether there were wizards in this world. However, he would have to check and that was the destination he had in mind.

"While it isn't any of your business…" Harry continued as he prepared to activate his invisibility cloak "… I plan on finding those like me and settle there; hopefully I will not be seeing any of you again."

"I can assure you Mr. Potter there are no people like you that I know of. Like I said before, I know of particular individuals capable of wielding magic but not with such ease as you do" Xavier said.

Harry shrugged. " _People like me_ have ways of hiding from _people like you_." He said with a smirk and shimmered out before their eyes and his dismembered voice echoed from all around the room.

" _I will come and see you guys if I find nothing, but till then try to stay alive."_ His voice echoed around the room for a few more seconds later before it left an awkward silence in its wake.

"Well…" Tony Stark said as he stood up. "…that was quite interesting but I happen to have things to do." And with that he strode out of the room.

"I will be taking my leave as well Nicholas, it's never safe to leave a school of super powered teenagers for sucha long time." Xavier said and after saying goodbye to the rest of the members he wheeled himself out followed by the beautiful woman who had been very quiet throughout the discussion. She glanced at a particular corner of the room just as they got out of the door.

When the five SHIELD members were alone, Natasha asked the question that was weighing on everyone's mind.

"What do we do now."

Fury sighed. It was moments like these that he felt he was getting too old for the job, but he reminded himself that the world still needs him.

"Agent Barton, you will go back along with Agent Hill to the research facility." He ordered.

"What about Potter?"

"I want him to be followed as discretely as possible and avoid any contact with him."

Natasha frowned. "And how exactly do you plan to trail someone who can teleport as well as disappear even from Jarvis"

"I am sure you will find a way agent Romanoff." Fury answered. "As for Banner, I will find another agent to follow him. Despite how dangerous he can be, At least we know that he would never hurt people willingly, something we are not sure about Potter."

"Yes Director."

"Good, I believe he will be heading to the UK so you should prepare for a flight."

Natasha nodded and strode out of the room. Harry also took that as his cue to leave and after casting several listening charms on the room, he concentrated on a certain alley he knew from his home universe that was always almost empty. He double checked to make sure he was still invisible and reapplied a silencing bubble around himself before he turned on his heel and disappeared from the room and found himself a second later in the designated alley.

The moment he left the room, something beeped in Fury's pocket and he removed. It was an old fashioned looking phone that had a blinking red dot that was now showing _London, Charring Cross road._

"Is that….?" Clint asked.

"Yes, I managed to put several tracking devices on and in him. I figured that since he is from a world ten years before ours, then he is less informed when it comes to technology." The SHIELD director explained. "Why don't you take it to Agent Romanoff, I am sure she will find it helpful.

Harry took a few moments for his stomach to settle down. Long distance apparition was never his best forte. He rather preferred port-keys but he wasn't about to try creating a port-key for a place he was not sure about. After something like two minutes, he felt that he could move without bringing back balance he stood up and exited the alley.

 _Charring Cross road_ was extremely busy compared to what he remembered. The cars were many and they were hooting relentlessly in the evening rush as most people went back to their homes from work.

Harry cast a mild warming charm on himself as he started walking to where he knew Diagon-Alley was supposed to be. He reached the place and stood across the street and his eyes swept across the building looking for a dangly pub he knew to be _The Leaky Cauldron._ He frowned in confusion when he saw nothing. He double checked again, looking from one end of the street to the other but there was no sign of the pub. He concentrated and tentatively let his magic move along the street probing for any sign of magic being here but he came out blank.

 _Curious…curios indeed._

He increased the range of his search and he could feel fading echoes of magic but nothing like he could expect from Diagon Alley. That told him that Diagon Alley clearly did not exist in this universe.

With a shrug Harry turned away from the street. As much as he wanted to find other wizards and witches, he was feeling tired and he needed to have some sleep. He walked along the streets until he managed to get the location of a certain a hotel from someone who was exiting out of a classy car.

He apparated to the hotel after and a bit of creative usage of legilimency and the _confundus_ charm, he found himself a room that was richly furnished and after a nice warm bath and an equally warm supper, he collapsed on the bed and was out like a light.

When Harry woke up, he immediately realized that there was an intruder in his room. He immediately transfigured his pyjamas into a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. He stepped into his slippers that were next to the bed and activated the effects of the _Cloak._

He heard some creative cursing from outside his bedroom in what was definitely a female voice before he heard footsteps approaching the door in a hurry and sure enough the door opened and a barrel of a gun appeared slowly followed by gloved hands. Harry could see clearly despite the dim light in the room and a feminine figure cautiously stepped into the room, looking from one place to another before she lowered her gun and spoke in what Harry assumed was a communication device.

"I lost him Director. He seemed to know that I was coming."

There was a pause as she listened to what the man on the other end was saying.

"Of course director. However, the receptionist seemed not to remember having given him the rom; I assume he is capable of either modifying or erasing memories."

A pause.

"It is just a stipulation, Director and I hope I am wrong but my instincts have never led me astray."

Another pause.

"Of course Director."

The lady hung up and giving another sweeping gaze around the room, the figure turned to go and just as she reached for the door the lights turned on and she whirled around so fast and Harry wondered whether she had some kind of powers.

"Reveal yourself. I mean you no harm." She commanded while her eyes darted from one corner of the room to another. After dome few seconds of deliberation, Harry shimmered into visibility and her green eyes immediately fixed on him.

"Good morning Ms. Romanoff." Harry greeted cheerfully. "I don't remember telling you or your bald boss where I was heading; and could you please point that gun somewhere else."

Natasha slowly lowered the gun and put it back in its holster at her rather… juicy thigh in Harry's opinion.

"I want to talk to you, Potter."

"Please call me Harry. And how did you find me?" Harry asked curiously as he walked past her and strode out of the room.

"I have my ways Harry." She answered mysteriously and Harry's lips twitched. "Where are you going?"

"To have breakfast of course. You don't think that people barging into my hotel room would stop me from having a normal day, do you?"

Harry cast a mouth cleaning charm as he knew from experience how morning breath could be quite oppressive to other parties. Natasha easily fell into step next to him though Harry could see that her hand wasn't very far from her gun.

The walked out of the hotel and went to a restaurant across the hotel where he was staying and after ordering for a typical English breakfast, Harry looked at the beautiful red-head seating across him.

"Why are you stalking me?" He asked without preamble. "Not I mind a beautiful lady like yourself following me around but I imagine that weird organisation of yours has a lot of things you could be doing."

"I have a proposition for you."

"Oh."

"I want to know what you think about joining SHIELD."

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"You want to recruit someone you know nothing about into a secret government organisation, two days after he has arrived on your planet?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"So we can get to…" Natasha trailed off as Harry's order arrived. Harry smiled at the pretty waitress who blushed slightly and walked away swaying her shapely ass. Natasha rolled her eyes at their antics.

"You were saying…" Harry said as he started digging in.

"We want you to join so we can get to know you and monitor you so that we can easily take you down in case you misbehave. Not to mention order you around."

Harry grinned at her in-between mouthfuls.

"I must say I appreciate your honesty but I will pass."

"Oh… and that is because?" She didn't seem to be surprised at his answer.

"Well for starters, I am not very good at following people's orders." Harry answered. "I prefer to keep my powers to myself and I am still new to this world so I want to get to know it better before I… am owned by some bald one-eyed old man intent on contorting the world from a flying/floating ship."

Natasha's lips twitched.

"That's a… creative description of the SHIELD Director."

"I aim to please my lady." Harry said with a smirk.

Natasha was quiet as she watched Harry finish his meal.

"What do you plan to do." She finally asked.

"I am not sure myself…" Harry said with a shrug. "I want to find others like me and see if I can get on with them and establish myself. I have been fighting a war for the majority of my life and ii would like to have a few years to relax."

"Is that why you didn't even think twice before rejecting my offer?"

"Maybe… So what do I get if I somehow lose my mind and decide to join your organization?"

"You get an identity and a history in this world as no one will give you a job if you have no genuine documentation. And of course a very handsome salary." Natasha explained.

Harry was quiet for a moment as he contemplated this information. While he was not about to go looking for a job as he had enough gold in one of his trunks to last him a lifetime, having documentation would be important while dealing with a muggle world and he was not foolish enough to think that he wouldn't deal with muggles after he has met other magicals.

"You know what…" Harry said as he put a few pound notes on the table from a wallet he had managed to… _borrow_ from someone. "Why don't we meet in three days and I will tell you my decision."

"Where?"

"Don't worry, I will find you." Harry said and stood up.

"And how will you do that?"

"I have my ways." Harry said mysteriously. "Now if you excuse me, I have a race to find."

"Wait… can I come."

But Harry had already left through the door. She rushed to check outside but he was nowhere to be seen. Letting lose a string of choice words in Russian which had a little girl squeak and hide behind her father's legs, Natasha activated her earpiece.

"I lost him, can you tell me where he is?"

" _No, I can't see him either, the dot has completely… wait he is in Scotland."_

"What!"

" _Yep, he must have teleported but the signal is not stable, something is interfering with it."_

"What do you mean?"

" _I cannot find his specific position. All I can gather is that he is in Scotland."_

"I see. Well it would seem I have to fly again." Natasha said with a long suffering sigh before hanging up.

Harry appeared in his destination and blinked.

 _What in Luna's name…._

Before him wasn't the Hogsmead train station he had expected. He closed his eyes and twisted on the spot while concentrating on his original destination. There was a "pop" and Harry felt the sensation of apparating but when he opened his eyes, he was still in the same spot.

 _Ok this is ridiculous. Maybe some sort of miss-direction ward to keep off intruders._ _But why would anyone put wards even against wizards._

Harry expanded his magic but he could not feel any indication of a ward. He could feel echoes of magic in the air but it was fading and the moment they came into contact with his, they latched on it desperation like a lifeline. It was like the magic had been on the blink of fading and when it felt Harry, it latched on it and immediately started growing.

He realized that he was surrounded by debris and remains of a building. He took a few steps and walked around a huge bush to see what was on the other side and his jaw dropped. The place looked like remains of the world war. From what he could gather, Hogsmead looked way much bigger than he remembered back at home.

There were numerous buildings or rather remains of buildings. The whole …town if Harry could call it that covered a very big area. It was like Hogsmead and Diagon-Alley combined but everything was destroyed. Harry levitated himself to see the settlement from a higher point and he could see that it was only the ambient magic in the area that was stopping all the buildings from entirely collapsing.

He got down and went to had been the biggest building; a tower that was at the center of the settlement which had half collapsed walls but was the one that was strongest. He explored it slowly and realized that this had been a school of sorts from the rotting boards. There were a few rooms that had rotting desks but overall there was nothing much.

After about three hours of exploring the few standing buildings, Harry still has no idea of what had happened here and he felt like he had been working for the whole day. While the endeavor had been completely useless, it showed Harry just how out of shape he was. Harry had not been the fittest person to ever walk the planet, but by wizard standards he was quite fit. He however had completely no idea of how to defend himself without magic and if what his suspicions were real, then he was going to find himself in situations where he had to fight without magic if he didn't want to draw unwanted attention to himself. SHIELD was enough of a handful as it is.

 _And speaking of shield._

He knew he was not going to get any information. He would have to find a way of contacting Luna, however, there was something else he could do right now.

Harry grinned at himself and after applying a silencing bubble around himself and activating his invisibility, he concentrated on Natasha and _teleported._

 _Wait what._

Harry silently found himself just behind his target. However, the first thing he noted was that he had not experienced the squeezing sensations he was familiar with that meant apparition. Which meant that he had actually teleported as he had thought. He had heard of teleporting but he thought it was only in fiction.

 _Then again, magic is also considered to be fiction by muggles. Just another addition to the list of questions I have to ask Luna._

Harry shook himself out of his musings and took in the view in front of him which happened to be Natasha's ass. He fought the urge to reach forward and feel how smooth it can be but he knew she wouldn't be amused and he had doubt she would beat him to a pulp. He couldn't risk using magic in this place that seemed to be suffocating with technology.

That was when he had a good look at where exactly he was. He realized that he was back at the Helicarrier and he was standing at what was the bridge of the huge ship. The place was shaped like the crest he had seen on Natasha's suit. They were standing in what was the head of the…eagle and below them were numerous computers and workstations where many other agents were working on Luna knows what. Harry wondered how they all were working with this noise as everyone seemed to be talking to someone.

"He has disappeared again." a gruff voice startled him from behind and Harry turned to see Fury who came and stood next to Natasha overlooking the agents working below.

"I have a feeling that he knows we are tracking him." Fury continued but Natasha shook her head.

"I doubt it. Last time I talked to him, he didn't know."

"Where did he say he was going?"

"He didn't tell me. However, he said that he would see me in three days."

"He has probably found a way of hiding himself." Fury grumbled.

"Er…, I had no idea you were actually tracking me." Harry interjected politely he immediately ducked a punch from Natasha and before she could follow up, he teleported a few meters from there and raised his hands in a non-threatening manner.

"Whoa… hold it there just a minute. You wouldn't want to kill a prospective employee now would you."

"Potter…" Fury growled.

 _Probably hates it when someone sneaks on him._

"What are you doing here Harry?" Natasha asked as she relaxed.

"I have a proposition for you, Agent Romanoff." Harry answered and went to stand on the other side of the redhead, very far from Fury.

"Are you stalking me?" she asked in amusement.

"Maybe…" Harry shrugged.

"What do you want Potter?" Furry asked impatiently.

Harry didn't answer immediately.

"My proposal is for Natasha; so will you please excuse us." Harry said with a completely straight face.

Fury looked at him with a raised eyebrow and Natasha's lips were twitching.

"If you have anything you want to say to her, then it concerns SHIELD, I suggest you say it right here." Harry could hear the irritation in the one-eyed man's voice.

"Ok then, as you wish." Harry shrugged and waved his hand casting a _Muffliato_ around the two of them leaving out Fury.

"So, now that we have some privacy, are you ready to listen to my proposal?" Harry asked pleasantly.

Natasha looked at him with a raised eyebrow and looked at Fury who was looked at them in confusion.

"What did you do?" She asked curiously and Harry grinned.

"Just a simple spell to make sure that Bald old man over there doesn't disturb us. He is now only hearing a buzzing like bees."

"Wow…" Natasha was clearly impressed and she grinned at Furry who was scowling at the two of them. Harry grinned and waved at the scowling man cheekily and Natasha couldn't stop her smile.

"He doesn't seem to be impressed does he?" Harry asked with a grin.

"I think that is a bit of an understatement." She replied and their grins increased when Fury stormed away.

"Now that the old men are sleeping…" Harry said conversationally." … I want you to join SHIELD."

"What?"

"Very eloquent Ms. Romanoff." Harry said sarcastically.

"Oh shut up. I am just surprised that you came to a decision that fast, you seemed ready to refuse right then when I asked you."

"It wasn't very hard actually." Harry said with a shrug. "I would be very stupid to pass on the opportunity to spend time with such a beautiful lady like yourself."

Natasha rolled her eyes.

"That is ridiculous. So what is the catch."

"You of course." Harry answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Can you be serious for a moment."

"No, I can't. Sirius was my godfather." Harry grinned.

Natasha cuffed him on the head.

"Fine…" Harry relented when she raised her hand to smack him again. She was quite strong for a person her size. "I want training from you."

"Well that is easy. We train all our agents how to fight."

"No… you don't understand. I want _you_ to train me."

"Unfortunately, my work here is mostly based in the field, not training recruits."

"As far as I am aware, you were told to babysit me so that can be considered as doing your job." Harry said with a smile. "Anyway, I am quite hungry right now, so I will see you tomorrow so we make a training regimen." And with that he disappeared.

"Oh, I hate it when he does that." She said with a groan.

"When who does what?" Maria Hill asked coming from behind her.

Natasha was startled.

"I didn't see you there."

"Oh, the Director just sent me here, he said you were talking with Potter and he seemed pissed of something. Where is he by the way?"

"He just left a few seconds ago..."

Natasha's tracker beeped.

"And apparently he is currently in Wales."

Two hours later, Harry appeared in a clearing. After having a bit of lunch in a small restaurant in Bangor, he had apparated to the place that is the location of Peverell Manor. After he had claimed lordship for House Peverell, he and Sirius had relocated to the spacious castle that was Peverell Manor. This had later ended up being the headquarters of the _New Marauders_ as the resistance group which started with two people started growing as more people left Dumbledore's _Order of the Phoenix_ after realizing how ridiculous his ways of fighting were.

The castle, also known to muggles as Penrhyn Castle was believed to be haunted and while it was considered a tourist attraction, the tourists always kept a distance as a result of the wards. The wards were legendary, almost on the same level as those of Hogwarts and while those of Hogwarts only acted for defense, The Peverell wards were created for both defense and offense; not even in his unbelievable levels of insanity never thought of attempting to breach them.

Harry looked at the castle before him, just like he had seen in Hogsmead, the Peverell castle was nothing but a ruins. It was nothing like the magnificent castle he remembered that used to attract muggle tourists back in his home universe.

He would have to demolish the whole place and rebuild it from the foundation. That was going to take a lot of time, and together with his training, the next month or so are going to be more than exhausting.

Harry extended his magic senses to feel the wards and almost dropped in shock. There was absolutely nothing resembling a ward.

 _How in the fucking name of Luna_ _haven't the muggles invaded this place?"_

Harry extended his magic more subtly and felt just the tiniest bit of magic which a recognised as a muggle repelling ward and it was on the blink of failing. Harry exhaled in and out.

He walked towards the clearing in front of the rotten walls of the castle and extended his magic again but this time, with the intention of checking for whatever was making anchoring the wards. He located four wardstones made from Luna knows what and they were all barely holding up.

He withdrew a trunk from his moleskin pouch and laid it on the ground. He tapped it twice with his pinkie and it resized to its normal size. He withdrew a blood-red slab of stone.

 _Dragonstone._

He had found the stone in the Peverell family vault and never bothered to find out its origin but he had found out that it worked as a ward stone. One single stone alone was would hold an infinite number of wards and it would feed directly from the Magical ley lines, and if this was anything like his home universe, then there was supposed to be two huge intersecting ley lines.

With his magical senses on high alert, Harry started searching for the exact point where the ley lines met. He entered the castle right in what he assumed was the ball room, he felt what he was searching for.

Carefully settled the Dragonstone on the floor and he started vanishing the parts of the floor where he wanted to place the stone to anchor the wards. The Blacks and Peverells were known for their expertise in wards and Harry had inherited that love twofold. Having the Black and Peverell family Grimoires had just helped fuel that love and by the end of the war, he considered himself a master concerning wards, that was like having a PhD in the muggle world and not many wizards could claim to being on that level.

A few minutes later, Harry had managed to create a hole in the ground just big enough to hold the wardstone. Harry carefully placed the stone inside the newly placed hole and activated his mage sight. He concentrated a bit and there was a hiss from his chest and the Elder wand appeared in his hand with a white flash.

"Bloody blonde never bothered to tell me it was painful." Harry muttered darkly while rubbing his burning chest through his t-shirt.

He saw that the Dragonstone had started absorbing the magic from the ley lines already. He pointed his wand at the slightly glowing stone and performed an intricate pattern and incanted. While he now could perform all sorts of magic without the need of a wand, wards were a piece of magic that needed precision he was not comfortable enough to try to set them without a wand.

" _ **Noli intrere non magicae"**_

The temporary muggle would keep away unwanted attention while he connected the wardstone to himself as the controller as he knew that _that_ particular part is very flashy and would most definitely be seen from miles away, even without the mage sight. While the muggles nearby would see it, they would pass it off to whatever their creative minds would come up with and then continue with their business.

However, when he activated the permanent ward, it be like a _Fidelius_ to the muggles because of the power of the Dragonstone and the ley lines. The muggles who got interest in the ruins would change their minds almost moment the moment when the thought crossed their minds.

The moment he felt the ward take effect, he conjured a small dagger with a simple wave of his wand and placed it on the side. He picked the dagger, sliced his palm and didn't even wince at the pain; he had felt way much worse even at the Dursleys and that was not counting the numerous _Cruciatus Curses_ he had received at the hands of Tom and his little friends.

He watched the blood drop slowly onto the blood-red stone and with each drop, the glow kept increasing and by the third drop, he had to deactivate his mage sight due to the intensity of the glow. He watched in fascination and awe as the stone took on the appearance of molten lava and just as the seventh drop landed on the stone harry incanted while projecting magic in his voice.

" _ **I AM HARRY JAMES POTTER. THE LORD PEVERELL."**_

There was a lapse where it felt like the whole world was still and then suddenly there was a bright flash of white light and magic expanded outwards blinding Harry momentarily. By the time he regained his sight and activated his mage sight, he nearly cried in awe; the magic kept rushing in and a second later it rushed outwards like it had been expelled from the stone. With a start, he realized that the magic was pulsing in perfect sync with his own heartbeat and he felt the pace increase in his excitement and sure enough the pulse of the magic increased along with that of his heart.

Harry shook himself out of his trance. He looked outside the building and realized that it was already dark outside. He sighed and stood up from his position with a groan; his back was stiff the muscles in his legs were cramped. After taking sometime to allow blood to flow back into his legs, he concentrated on his hotel room back in London and apparated.

Tomorrow he would have to set up the basic wards on his land, talk to Natasha, find a way to talk to Luna and if possible, demolish the castle and clear thee place for the rebuilding of a new Manor, he didn't have the least idea on building but he planned to build on that looked like smaller version of #12 Grimmauld Place. The house while not as big as the Sirius' family home would have enough rooms to accommodate a good number of visitors and wouldn't be so hollow with him as the sole resident.

Harry ate a light supper and after a swift bath, soon found himself in his room lying on his bed. He carefully retrieved a locket from his shirt that was hanging on his neck.

~ _open~_ he hissed it in perseltounge and it slowly opened to reveal two photos. he had created it basing on the design of Salazar's locket that he left with Daphne.

There were two photos inside; on one side was an inhumanely beautiful woman with dirty blonde hair, cold blue eyes, high cheek bones and red full lips. Her glare at the person who took the photo just seemed to increase her beauty. Like all magical photos, this one could move and the girl who could have put a Veela to shame was glaring at the camera and there was a movement, probably her drawing her wand to curse the person taking the photo and if Harry remembered right it was her sister, Astoria.

Even after three years of dating her, Harry still marveled at her beauty. It was a shame that her father had opted to side with Voldemort, harry would have thanked him for having the sense of producing such a magnificent person; then again, his decision to join Tom was what made the two sister to seek refuge with Harry and his group.

He wondered if she had delivered well, how his kids looked like and if they were even aware that he was their father.

 _They probably think me a coward and with good reason too._

He closed the locket and realized that he was crying. He hated himself for abandoning them, hated Voldemort and the magical world for forcing him to leave Daphne and when she was no pregnant. He didn't know when he fell asleep as he drowned himself in guilt induced tears but it must have been around midnight."


	3. Chapter 3

A NEW LIFE

Chapter 3

AN: Just to be clear, Harry will not be joining any hero group. And those complaining about him being a mutant, don't worry, his mutant powers will not appear any time soon. In fact, if I have my way, they may not appear at all in this segment. They will only appear in the squeal. I wanted to find a way of introducing some X men characters and I felt this was the easiest way.

On an entirely unrelated matter, I do not own Harry Potter, he belongs to J.K. Rowling and the marvel verse belongs to… well you know…not me, I think a certain Stan Lee can tell you if you happen to come across him.

Harry opened his eyes and frowned. He was in a place which felt familiar though he remembered the last time he was conscious was when he cried himself to sleep. With a start, he realized that he didn't have a body, as if he was a spirit or just…there. If that even made sense. He looked around and his non-existent eyes widened as he realized he was in his study or what used to be his study at Peverell Manor in his home universe. There was the familiar mahogany desk having several trinkets and pieces of parchment.

Behind the desk was a crown like chair where he used to sit and Harry smiled at himself as he remembered the time he spent there with Daphne doing a lot of naughty activities while the rest of the Marauders thought they were having discussions. His eyes were drawn to the portrait hanging above the seat which had the photo of his parents who were staring unmoving at the room.

Harry frowned as he realized that almost everything was exactly as he left it except the will and other books were missing on the book shelf. The tri-wizard tournament trophy was gleaming on top of the bookshelf as well as numerous awards. There was one he had received after saving the philosopher's stone in his first-year at Hogwarts, another one was received after his slaughtering the Basilisk in second year. There was an order of merlin second-class which the ministry gave him for capturing Peter Pettigrew at the end of third year.

On the other side of the wall was another stand which held another award which Harry did not remember. He glided towards it and rolled his imaginary eyes. It was an order of Merlin first-class for the defeat of the dark lord. Next to it was another one but it was given to The New Marauders for their effort in the war. Just above the stand was hanging an ivory plague shaped like a shield which had not been there when Harry was last there. It contained a list of names of all the Marauders who perished in the war and Harry's was at the very bottom in gold while the others were in a shining silver.

Harry felt a knot in his non-existent stomach as he read through all the names. Susan Bones, Hannah Abbot, Ronald, Ginevra, William, Charlie, Molly and Arthur Weasley, Dean Thomas, Seamus, the Patil twins, and then Luna Lovegood, Sirius Black as well as Neville Longbottom. They were in their order of death. Harry felt pained as he looked at the last three names and was assaulted by images of their deaths.

Towards the end, the Horcruxes had been destroyed except Nagini who Voldemort had resorted to keeping at his side with numerous enchantments protecting her. Luna had stormed into Riddle Manor single handedly and had killed numerous death eaters until she had been confronted by the Dark Lord himself. She had then done some kind of spell which made her magical core to explode. Everything had been destroyed including Nagini but Voldemort somehow managed to survive the explosion.

Luna's body also managed to survive and the death eaters who reached the scene first, led by Snape had found her naked body lying on the floor with many of their comrades lying around missing body. They had then defiled her dead body as they fulfilled their sick fantasies in the name of revenge. That was the scene Harry had found and by the time the rest of the Marauders arrived, fifteen heads were lying around him and the bodies whose heads were around could not be seen anywhere.

The door to the study opened, saving him the pain of going through his godfather's death. He turned and his breath hitched. Standing in the door way was a young boy of about eleven. He had raven black hair arranged neatly on his head and emerald green eyes that were shining in curiosity. This was most definitely his son and Harry resisted the urge to go and hug him. He had defined features showing his black heritage which Harry had adopted after the adoption ritual he had done with Sirius and Harry realized that the boy had nothing to show that he was Daphne's son.

"Well are you going to enter or you plan to stand there all day" a cold feminine voice asked from behind the boy. And Harry blinked at the voice which sounded almost exactly like Daphne yet it was definitely younger.

"Shut up Mia, I am trying to get everything in." The boy said without moving from his place.

"Yeah, you should do that, seeing that you are going to leave your eyes at door." The voice said sarcastically. "Now get out of my way and do not call me that ridiculous name."

The boy was shoved out of the way and smacked on the head. He protested quite loudly but Harry wasn't listening, he was busy watching the miniature version of Daphne that had just entered.

She was beautiful. Dirty blonde hair with strips of red here and there. Her green eyes that were identical to Harry's were shinning with curiosity even though not openly like her brother's. Harry could clearly see that the was the only feature he shared with his daughter and the rest was all Daphne. Her face, nose and thin lips made her look older than eleven and she was almost the same height as her brother.

The two kids together went to the stand holding the order of Merlin.

"He looks exactly like me in this photo." The boy breathed as he looked at a portrait of Harry that he had missed. It was one Sirius had taken of him before he went for his fourth year which was also the last time he had set foot at the castle as a student.

"Oh, I hadn't seen that." The girl said dryly.

"No need to be sarcastic all the time Mia."

"Maybe if you stopped stating the obvious all the time. And I told you to stop calling me that name."

"Your name is too long. And it's not like I complain when you call me Harry."

"That is just because it the same as our Dad's name and you are called Hadrian."

"Well, Euphemia was our grandmother. So there is no need to be so bitter because I was named after our Dad." Hadrian said with a grin and Mia snorted.

"You wish… "

"Did you just snort, how unlady-like of you, I wonder what mum would say." Hadrian teased his sister and was punched on the arm. "Ow… woman, why do you resort to violence all the time."

"That is the best way to deal with idiots like you."

"Are you calling me an idiot, moron?"

"If you two are done behaving like co-wives…" another voice interrupted." …. I suggest that you come and we get on with why I told you to come here."

Harry turned to see Daphne entering the study. She looked even more beautiful than he remembered and that was saying something as she was the most beautiful witch alive when he left. Delivering the twins seemed to have increased her beauty and Harry felt jealous that some idiot was probably her husband right now despite how much he wanted her to move on.

She walked around the desk and with a flick of her wrist, her wand was in her hand. She conjured a chair next to Harry's and with another wave, two chairs appeared in front of the desk and the twins sat down.

"Today, you will be going to Hogwarts." She started without preamble. "I believe that you are now mature enough to realize that the moment you step on the Hogwarts express, you will be opening a new chapter of your life and the decisions you make from then on will determine the person who you are."

The twins were looking at her attentively and Harry imagined that this was not the first of such lectures.

"When I started Hogwarts, I was a proud pureblood princess, who felt that she was above everyone else just because she knew a few spells and was born as noble. I looked down upon everyone as I was sure of my superiority in magic. I didn't need anyone other than my magic and anyone else didn't matter, at least that is what I thought." She said with a sigh. "I distanced myself from everyone except Tracey and I was known as the Ice Queen. And when the Dark Lord came back, I was not only expected to follow him but I was actually looking forward to it. That was until he slaughtered my parents because they refused to sign a marriage contract with Malfoys."

There were gasps from the twins.

"At first I thought them idiots for denying the dark lord but when Draco raped my little sister and was applauded by the very person I adored and even worshiped, I started having second thoughts about all my decisions I had made in life." She continued with a faraway look.

"Just after I was marked, we were sent to kill your Aunt Hermione's parents." The twins looked at her in horror but she continued. "on the way, we found a group of teenage girls, muggles and my companions who had also been marked recently jumped onto the seven girls and raped and tortured them. That is the day I met your father."

The twins perked up at the announcement and Harry was smiling at the memory. Not that there was anything to smile about.

"He came out of nowhere and beat up all my nine companions like they were school children who had no idea how to use magic. The fight if you can even call it that lasted for less than thirty seconds and all the nine were dead. He then turned to the girls and assured them that they were safe and they immediately trusted them despite having gone through that traumatic experience. He offered to take away the memories of what had happened and they agreed"

Harry wondered whether he should be disturbed that his children were grinning as their mother continued the story.

"All that time I had been watching and after dealing with the girls, he turned to me and said. "you are not obligated to do anything Greengrass." And then he disappeared. I never found out how he recognised me behind my mask or why he had not killed me like he used to do to every death eater but I realized one thing…. I was following the dark Lord out of obligation." He smiled sadly at them.

"I want you to think about that story as you start your first year at Hogwarts and I know that with your sharp minds, you will be able to figure out what I was trying to tell you."

Daphne was quiet as the two pondered her words while she seemed to prepare herself for whatever she was going to say next.

"The other thing I wanted to talk about is something I have been avoiding but I believe it is time." She took a deep breath and continued. "What do you know about your Father's…situation."

"Well… I know that he died so we can live." Hadrian said with a frown.

"Apparently, it was the only option and if he had not died, we wouldn't have been alive." Mia added.

"That is partly true." Daphne said and the two stared at her blankly, their expressions clearly demanding an expression. Harry smiled at the familiar expression which he had seen on Daphne's hand so often.

"You see; your Father was a very powerful wizard. Almost at the level of Merlin himself." Daphne chuckled at the faces of her children. "And I assure you, I am not exaggerating. So after he killed the Dark Lord, while the rest of the wizarding world were celebrating, the Department of Mysteries were afraid of the existence of such a person and his bloodline. They managed to convince the ministry to throw him in Azkaban but after six months, the masses pressured the ministry and he was released."

She took a breath and continued.

"The Unspeakables found a ritual which they could use to curse him and his bloodline in case he had managed to make a few witches pregnant." She smiled at the pointed looks they were giving her. "This ritual was designed to eat his magical core completely as well as that of any of his offspring. And as you know anyone without a core would die as even muggles have some a small magical core which keeps them alive."

Harry could see the horror in the eyes of his children as they realized hoe this could have affected them as well as Daphne.

"As I am sure you have figured out. If they had succeeded, you would have died before even your birth and since I was connected to you I would have followed you. You are probably wondering that if he was as powerful as I told you, why didn't he just fight." The two nodded and she explained.

"Under normal circumstances, being very powerful would be very important, however in this case it was a curse. Since Harry was known as the most powerful wizard at the time, they found a summoning ritual witch would latch on the magic of the most powerful wizard to their place."

"But it could have summoned anyone…" Hadrian argued.

"He was the most powerful wizard alive at the moment idiot." Mia said while rolling her eyes.

"Hey, don't call me an idiot…" Hadrian glared at his twin. "…and it was just believed, no one sure."

"Well, he is our Dad, of course he was the most powerful." Mia said haughtily with her pretty nose turned up in the air.

"I guess you have a point there." Hadrian agreed grudgingly, it was clear that the two rarely agreed with each other.

Daphne chuckled at their antics.

"Anyway, Hadrian, despite the fact that it had not been proved, it is very possible that it was him and he didn't want to take chances. Fate had a habit of screwing him from time to time and Potter was not someone who liked gambling with people's lives and most especially those he considered family."

Harry looked at the twins as they nodded in understanding.

"We had a theory that the Veil… in the Department of Mysteries was a portal to other worlds. Potter wanted to kill himself to save us but Luna had researched about the veil and we found we could activate the portal. So, those of us who had survived studied Luna's notes and managed to activate it and Potter was sent through."

"But that ritual, can't they do the same to us. We are quite powerful for our age and I imagine they would try to limit our magic." Mia asked quietly.

"You remember that ritual we did on the two of you when you were seven?" Daphne asked and got two nods. "That ritual was to make sure that something like that never happens."

"But why didn't you perform the same ritual with Dad. He wouldn't have needed to die." Hadrian asked.

"First of all, we were not aware of the ritual and we just found it in the Black Family Grimoire after he left as we didn't want the same thing to happen again. Secondly, the ritual is only performed at seven, thirteen or seventeen and Potter was already older than that."

The three were quiet and Harry could see that Daphne was barely stopping herself from crying. He knew that he would be crying if he had a body. After a moment of silence, Euphemia asked quietly.

"Do you think he is still alive, that he is currently thinking about us.?"

I am right here with you.

Harry wanted to scream out to them, he wanted to collect the three of them in a hug and never let go.

"I know for a fact that he is alive." Daphne said firmly. "It would take more than just some mystical veil to kill Potter."

"Why do you always call him Potter and not Harry, mum?" Hadrian asked curiously and Daphne chuckled slightly as if remembering something.

"He once asked me the same thing and I told him that Harry is such a ridiculous name for someone so great and that if he wanted me to call him by a first name, then he would have to get another name."

"Hey..." Hadrian protested. "Harry is a cool name."

"For a shrimp like you yes." Mia agreed.

"Says the person who is called Euphemia. I think she was our grandfather's grandmother."

"I really don't want to know how you think of all the things you say."

"Shut up Mia."

"Of course, Hadrian."

Daphne massaged her temples while Harry was grinning like an idiot.

"I think I am getting to old for this." She said with a long suffering sigh.

"What..." Hadrian gasped. "Why would you say something like that."

"You look like a twenty-year old to us."

"Too true my annoying twin. This lady right here has been topping Teen's Witch Weekly as the world's most eligible bachelor."

"I think my idiot twin brother meant to say spinster."

"Like I said, she is the most eligible. Now if only she would stop rejecting Fletcher's advances."

"Indeed, can you imagine this whole house smelling like garlic and tobacco all the time." Mia completed said having a dreamy smile identical to what Hadrian was having.

"May be we should do something, Mia."

"I don't know Hadrian; she looks like she is about to curse us."

Daphne's eye was twitching and Harry could tell that it was a mixture of irritation and amusement. After seeing the two arguing all the time, he had not expected them to be like the Weasley twins.

"Hey mum, why don't you tell us about Dad. I mean, we know he was powerful, killed the Dark Lord and numerous Death Eaters but nothing personal." Hadrian asked with a grin trying to distract their mother.

Daphne was not fooled but she sighed and answered anyway.

"Potter is one of the biggest idiots I have ever had the misfortune to know."

"Mum?" the two asked with raised eyebrows.

"But that was the only bad thing about him. If you have ever had a person called flawless, then Potter came real close." Daphne continued and smiled at the relieved sighs from the twins.

"He was a Gryffindor to the bone and could have put Godric himself to shame. He was selfless, powerful, cunning and intelligent when the occasion called for it. In fact, he was an amalgamation of all the Hogwarts houses, only with a tad more Gryffindor than reasonable. Oh, and a good deal of Slytherin." Daphne added with a slight blush.

"Are we talking about Perseltounge, Mum?" Mia asked with a raised eyebrow and Daphne's blush increased in intensity.

"Why would perseltounge make mum to blush?" Hadrian whispered loudly to his sister.

"She can hear you, idiot." Mia whispered back just as loudly.

"I know, but persel…oh…Oh." Hadrian finished now having a blush of his own.

"Good, now shut up." Mia whispered back also adorning a blush a Daphne's eyes narrowed.

"Is there something I am missing you two…. Maybe relating to the magazine I found between in the study room between your books?"

The blushes disappeared very fast that Harry felt his non-existent eyebrows rising along with those of Daphne.

"We have absolutely no idea what you are talking about Mum." Mia said with a completely straight face.

"And just the idea of a magazine being in a study room is just plain ridiculous." Hadrian said with a scoff.

"Yeah, we should talk Kreacher to stop leaving his rubbish everywhere." Mia agreed with a contemplative look.

"No time like the present then." Hadrian said and stood up to leave.

"Wait for me midget." Mia said as she followed her brother towards the door.

"Hey, don't call me midget, I am older and taller than you."

"In your dreams Potter."

By this point they had were walking out of the door.

"You know, just because you have started growing mini anti-hills on your chest doesn't mean you are old."

"Mum…" Mia whined. "Harry is talking about my breasts again."

"Oh don't be such a baby. It doesn't suit you at all, especially with those… things growing on your chest." Hadrian scolded her.

"Ok, that is it."

"Ouch… Mum." Hadrian whined. "Mia is using magic in the corridor again."

"Now, look who is being a baby. It was just a stinging hex; it wasn't even that painful."

"Oh, then let's see what you make of this one."

"Aren't the two of you supposed to be packing." Daphne shouted from the study where she had been left and Harry heard a couple of swear words from both which made him snort to himself.

"Sorry mum." The two answered and rushed off to their rooms.

Daphne pulled out the locket hanging around her neck and tapped her wand on it and it opened.

"I really wish you were here Potter; you would be so proud of them." She addressed Harry's photo that was in the locket. "They are so much like you and I am afraid they might end up in merlin forbid Gryffindor."

Harry smiled at the woman he loved and still loves. Her hatred had not abated in the least as she used to blame everything that Harry did wrong on his having been in Gryffindor. Even as he felt at peace with the knowledge that his family was alive and happy, he felt his vision become blurry and then it went blank completely as unconsciousness claimed him.

-ANLANLANLANL-

When Harry woke up back in his hotel room in London, he was sporting a shit-eating grin. He realized that he had slept longer than usual but he didn't care. He had seen Daphne as well as his children.

My children.

The mere though made him want to cast a Sonorous and shout out the fact to the whole world. He attempted to whistle but winced immediately at the sound coming from his mouth though that couldn't put a dumper on how happy he was. He decided to go with humming the Hogwarts school song and since there was no fixed tune, he even tried singing a couple times while in the shower but gave up a few lines later. After a brief shower he left the bathroom and in his excitement he didn't see the person seating on his bed.

"Hi, Harry."

"Hi, Luna." He answered absentmindedly and it took him a second to register exactly what he had said. "Wait, Luna… bloody hell, what are you doing in my room. I am naked."

Luna rolled her eyes.

"There is nothing I haven't seen before you know."

"It doesn't mean you have to break into my bedroom." Harry argued even as he didn't try to cover himself.

"Actually the door was open, so I didn't break into it."

Harry just shook his head.

"So what has you so Happy like that." She asked when Harry didn't answer and went to the dressing mirror while still humming the Hogwarts song.

"Well, nothing much, I just had a few moments watching my family. You wouldn't have had anything to do with it would you?"

"What do you mean?" Luna asked in confusion and Harry frowned.

" You mean you have no idea…" he said as his joyous mood disappeared. "…so it was only a dream."

"Harry, what are you talking about?"

Harry sighed and sank down on the bed next to the petite girl.

"I had a dream about Daphne and the twins and I thought it was some kind of vision of what is going on back home."

"Are you saying you saw Mia and Harry?" Luna asked with her eyes widening and Harry perked up at the mentioning of the names.

"Yeah, those were their names in my dream and I think they were preparing to go to Hogwarts."

"How is that possible?" Luna asked more to herself.

"How is what possible?"

"Euphemia Lily Potter and Hadrian Sirius Potter joined Hogwarts today." Luna said absently.

"So it was real…" Harry asked in excitement. "…were they told about the reason why I entered the veil by Daphne today?"

"I am not exactly sure but they had a chat in your study today but I don't know the particulars of the conversation. I don't normally watch them but as they were joining Hogwarts today, I felt that I could check on them and I remember seeing them going to your study."

"Wow, so it was real then." Harry breathed.

"Yes but that shouldn't be possible. Unless your… position allows you to have glimpses of what is happening."

"Well, whatever it is, I am not complaining." Harry said happily.

"It must be some powers you got after mastering the Hallows." Luna said.

"Oh and speaking of new powers, I seem to have gotten a few like teleportation, then spreading my senses or something like that and I feel like my magic just part of me like a third arm. It is easy as breathing and even the simplest spells I don't even need to concentrate."

"That is good to hear but I came to answer some questions if you have any. My time here is limited and I don't know when I will be able to talk to you again." Luna said.

"I guess the biggest question is what the hell happened to wizards of this world?"

Luna was quiet as she pondered the best way to answer the question.

"A Weasley happened."

"What?"

"A Weasley happened Harry, is something wrong with your ears?" Luna asked in amusement.

"I heard you the first time, maybe you should explain a little bit more."

"I understood what you wanted the first time."

"Haha very funny…"

"Oh don't be such a pussy." Luna scolded playfully. "Anyway, the wizards and witches of this world were your typical purebloods. And as a result, inbreeding was a normal occurrence along with the normal effects as you are aware. They were magically weak and the average wizards that you remember in your home universe were considered as some of the most powerful. Those in your category of yourself were simply fiction and had you existed here, you would have been considered a god."

Harry blinked at that revelation.

"However, low level of magical power wasn't the only effect of inbreeding." Luna continued. "There were many cases of squibs and in fact it reached a point where the number of squibs was higher than magicals. So, one particular family, Weasley, had a squib and just like any pureblood family, they hated him, looked down on him and when he reached fourteen, they disowned him. The young man was disgruntled and he decided to try to find a way of acquiring magic to prove to his family of magicals that he was worth of being in their family and this decision led to breaking of the Statute of secrecy."

Harry was completely enraptured in the story now.

"He somehow managed to get the ear of certain government officials and told them about magic. Obviously, they did not believe him so he kidnapped a little girl and took him to the muggles. He told them of accidental magic and they threw the girl in a den of lions. As expected, the girl panicked and her magic burst out and killed the two lions along with the girl but the point had been made. they kidnapped more children to experiment on this new power and when they got convinced that it was real, Weasley told them of his plan and suggested infusing blood of a magical into the body of another person."

Luna paused and settled back on the bed with her head on the pillow facing up and her knees drawn up. Harry resisted to concentrate on the fact that her dress dropped to her stomach leaving her thighs on display.

"After explaining that magic was in a person's blood, the bright minds of that time came up with ways to transfer blood and Weasley was given a task to get wizards to be the donors. Weasley told the rest of the squibs about this development and many of them were interested. They started kidnapping many of the magicals which included the younger wizards and witches. The wizards were proud and their pride was the reason for their extinction. At first, they thought themselves invincible and those who were kidnapped were left to their fate as they saw them to be too weak. Obviously, the experiments didn't yield anything and the muggle scientists started killing off many of the squibs."

"One thing you must understand Harry is that the magical population in this world was very small and the settlement you saw in what used to be Hogsmead back home was the only community of wizards. So, the muggles with the help of squibs attacked this settlement and killed many of the magicals while capturing others with the help of magic suppressing restrained created by the squibs. Those few who managed to escape went and stashed themselves in Peverell castle in Wales where you plan to build your home and they were mostly men while the females were very young girls. Many of them died in a couple of years due to illness as there were no healers, some committed suicide out of depression and so many other factors were at play and by the end of that century, there was no single magical alive."

"Wait… just like that? What about those who were captured." Harry asked finding Luna's story hard to even comprehend.

"All the wizards and witches that were captured were drained of their blood for experiments. When the muggles saw that the squibs were not showing any signs of magic, they killed them too and tried transferring blood to fellow muggles. Unfortunately, there were no results with the muggles either." Luna said and after leaving Harry to think on that a bit, she continued.

"After the last of magicals died who happened to be called Helga Peverell, Magic somehow managed to wipe any information concerning the existence of wizards or the experiments from every mind on earth. All written information was destroyed and there was no trace of the existence of wizards and witches in this word except those ruins at Hogsmead and Peverell castle which have modified muggle repelling wards. On that day, magic as you know it stopped existing in this universe."

Luna paused and Harry narrowed his eyes at her.

"Something you want to add Luna?" he asked suspiciously.

"No, nothing. I am just wondering the best way to tell you that one of your roles in this universe is to repopulate the magical world." She answered with a frown of concertation.

"What?" Harry shouted.

"No need to be so loud. I am right here you know." She scolded him.

Harry looked at her intently for a moment to see whether she was being serious and received a serene look in return.

"You are serious aren't you?" he asked quietly and Luna nodded.

"Well, that is not happening."

"Really?" Luna asked in amusement.

"Yes. I just left Daphne along with two children just because my what did you call it…" string of life" had ended, and now you expect me to get a new wife and er repopulate the world? Like I said, not happening." He said firmly and started dressing up.

"Where are you going?"

"To have breakfast. Your talk has made me very hungry."

"Aren't you interested in knowing about the mutants and how they came into existence?"

"Not if you are going to end the story with having me knock up every female mutant."

Luna snorted.

"Sorry, as much fun as that will be, unfortunately you are not that lucky."

Harry shook his head and finished putting on his pants.

"Anyway, repopulating the magical world won't necessarily require you to be a sperm donor." Luna said and Harry raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean, you did not give me powers to conjure humans did you?"

"No but while magic as we know it no longer exists in this world, your arrival has changed a lot of things. Therefore, you should expect a few muggleborns to begin popping up from time to time. However, since the magic in this universe is weaker than in our home, the number will be very low and if there are more than two for a particular year then that is too much. For the same reason, you will have to knock up a few women as that will help in increasing the magical power levels as even these muggleborns will be at the level of the wizards who were in this world." Luna explained with her eyes twinkling in amusement.

"So it is not an obligation but just a service to this world?" Harry asked.

"Having sex with beautiful women?" Luna clarified.

"Yes, knocking up women to increase the magical power levels."

"Yes it is."

"An obligation, or a service?"

"One of them; it depends on what you want to make of it."

Harry came to the conclusion that he was wasting time and sat back on the bed.

"So where did these mutants come from." He instead asked.

"You remember that there were no results from the experiments…" Luna asked and Harry nodded wondering where this was going. "That is what the muggles thought at that time. However, the squibs had been right that magic is in the person's blood and when these scientists transferred magical blood into the bodies of muggles, it led to unexpected results which would only be seen five hundred years later."

"Maybe a bit more explaining would be in order." Harry said running of patience.

"Patience Harry." Luna frowned at him disapprovingly.

"You the one who said that you have limited tome here, not me." Harry argued and Luna just rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, the muggles who received could not perform magic not only because they had no magical cores but also had very little magic in their bodies for any visible effect. When the world was obliviated about wizards and witches, these people went back to living their normal lives. They married and had children and passed on this little magic to their descendants. After a couple of centuries, the descendants of these lab rats ended up marrying each other and the magic from each parent gradually led to increase in the infants' magic up to recently when children were born with enough magic in their bodies to have an effect on them."

"Just like their ancestors, these children are born without a magical core but the magic in their bodies is too much to just be contained and it started changing them. These children came to be known as mutants. The powers held by a mutant are a modification of wizard's magic capabilities and depends on the affinity of the person if they had been having a magical core for example telepaths would have been having an affinity for legilimency."

"Wow, that is… not what I had expected. Does that mean that I can duplicate any mutant's powers?" Harry asked.

"Yes but it will not be as perfect and it will take you more effort than what a mutant will need to use their powers." Luna answered as she stood up. "Anyway, my time here is up Harry. I suggest you put off joining SHIELD for now so you find a way of locating muggleborns because I assure you that people won't react well to accidental magic."

"Thank you for seeing me Luna and I wasn't really planning to join SHIELD. But I have nowhere to keep kids and it will take me months to complete my Manor in Wales."

"You don't have to worry about that yet and I am sure the house elves will help you in building it faster. Well will be taking my leave. See ya around." She winked at him and disappeared.

"Wait… Luna. Fucking blonde, what did she mean by house elves?" Harry growled.

When it became clear that no one was going to answer him, Harry cursed a bit more in perseltounge before he decided to go and have some breakfast across the street. He kept muttering to himself about stupid blondes and cheeky brats until he entered the modest restaurant. He was looking around for a booth but he was waved over by the pretty brunette waitress who served him yesterday.

"Hello Karen." Harry greeted her glancing at her name tag.

"Hello Harry." She answered with a smile.

"I don't remember telling you my name."

"No, you didn't, the lady over there told me and asked me to send you over when you arrived." Harry looked where she was pointing and raised his eyebrows at Natasha who waved back.

"And here I was thinking that I had finally managed to get a pretty lady like yourself to share my breakfast." Harry said in mock disappointment and Karen giggled.

" I am sure that one will do quite fine. So you want the usual?"

Harry nodded and went over to Natasha.

"I am not sure I am very comfortable with the idea that someone out there is able to find me anywhere I am. Not to mention following me around like a criminal. Oh and I love the new look."

"A good morning to you Harry." Natasha answered.

She wasn't wearing the suit she had been wearing yesterday and instead she wore loose fitting jeans and a turtleneck blouse and had a black leather jacket on top.

"How about you tell me how you are tracking me. I know for a fact that I have no electronic devices on me as they would have been fried with all the magic around me."

"What do you mean by fried." Natasha asked in confusion.

"Magic doesn't mix well with technology and electronics cannot work in the presence of magic. So how are you tracking me?"

"I am afraid I cannot tell you that."

"You know I can read minds right?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow and Natasha tensed. "Don't worry, I hate doing it and only use it when absolutely necessary or to save my life. I just want to know so I can avoid any enemies if make some to track me in the same or similar ways."

Natasha looked uncomfortable.

"I ask that you refrain from reading my mind Harry. I know a lot of specified information which could be dangerous to you just by knowing it."

"I will not be reading your mind unless absolutely necessary Natasha, I promise." Harry assured the redhead.

"That is not very reassuring." She said but Harry could see that she had relaxed slightly though she was still tensed.

"So, how are you tracking me?" Harry asked as he started digging in his breakfast.

"You won't give up will you?"

"No."

"The trackers are not on you; they are inside you."

Harry frowned and swallowed what was in his mouth.

"What do you mean."

"When you were unconscious for the two days, we managed to put a couple of trackers in your body while others you ate them along with the food." She explained and Harry looked at her critically for a moment. He closed his eyes and concentrated his magic on expelling all foreign items from his body and he continued eating.

Natasha's comm' beeped and she answered.

"Agent Romanoff… what do you mean he is off…I guess… that is ok." She hung up and glared at Harry.

"What did you do?"

"I did something?" he asked innocently.

"Stop playing innocent with me Potter."

"I am not playing innocent with you. But there a couple of things I wouldn't mind playing with you."

She sighed.

"What are up to that you don't want us to know?"

"Nothing really, I am just not comfortable with the idea of people following me around like I am criminal."

"Listen Harry, SHIELD is not the only one that registered your arrival and there will be organisations that would want to use you for their goals and if we have no way of tracking you, then we can't help you."

"I assure you that I can protect myself well enough."

"Then why did you want training."

"I can't fight without magic as it would attract unwanted attention so I wanted to learn how defend myself like normal people." He answered honestly.

"And that is in exchange for joining SHIELD?"

"Well… about that." Harry started. "I am not so keen on being ordered around and limited by rules and guidelines while answering to bald old men for every single action I do. However, I will be willing to come and help you guys in case something that needs my help comes up."

"That is unacceptable." Natasha said seriously. "SHIELD can only train you if you are one of their agents."

"I guessed as much, that is why I came to you and not baldy. I want training from you as Natasha and not as Agent Romanoff in exchange for help in case SHIELD asks and that does not mean that I will be running to come and help whenever they ask."

Natasha was quiet as she seemed to contemplate on the offer and Harry finished his breakfast.

"Take all the time you want to think on it, I will come and see you tomorrow."

"Wait, how can I contact you. I imagine that you have no phone because of the magic problem."

Harry paused as he thought of what to do.

"I will find a way in case you agree to my suggestion." He said and after leaving a couple of bills on the table he walked and went to the restrooms where he apparated to Wales.

-ANLANLANLANL-

Harry arrived in what had been the court yard of Penrhyn Castle and blinked. There were additions to the place he remembered not having been there. The little creatures looked at him with wide eyes full of a mixture of fear and awe. They were about fifteen and looked sickly and extremely skinny and naked. Their huge ears were practically stuck on their heads and they looked very old.

"Luna's gaping cunt…" Harry exclaimed and the eyes of the ugly creatures grew even wider and Harry knew that they would fall out of their sockets if they grew any wider.

"Ma…master?" the youngest looking house elf rasped. It wasn't because it was the spokesperson but because the other wrinkly house elves seemed to be too weak to speak.

"What the hell happened to you?" Harry asked the ugly looking creature who would have made Kreacher win the beauty contest in comparison.

"Bo…bond master. Need…bond." The elf managed to stammer. It took Harry a moment to understand what the creature was trying to tell him.

"You want to bond with me?" He asked incredulously and the thing gave a weak nod. Harry looked at the fifteen house elves; they were too old and weak to be of any use to him. As if reading his mind, the elf rasped out.

"Trans…form…after bo…. bond master, affect…ma…masterrr, magic."

"I am assuming you said that you will be transformed by my magic. I guess I don't have much of an option." Harry said with a sigh as he cursed Luna in his mind for tenth time that day. He silently conjured a bowl and a dagger. Holding the bowl before him with magic, he used the dagger to create a slice in his hand and closed his eyes as blood dropped into the bowl.

"By this blood, willingly given, I Harry James Potter-Black recognise you as my bonded servant for eternity or until when I release you, so mote it be."

He then gave the nearest elf the bowl who caught it in his wrinkly hands and took a sip. He then limped from one elf to another as each took a sip from the blood in the bowl until the very last one had taken then he limped back to Harry and handed him the now empty bowl. He went back in his place and the fifteen house elves spoke in unison.

"So mote it be."

Immediately, there was a bright flash and Harry shielded his eyes. When he felt safe to open them, he was met with a sight which made his jaw drop. Not for the first time and most definitely not the last, Harry marveled at the power of magic. The fifteen house-elves been… transformed could pretty much describe it. Where before were wrinkly, sickly weak and naked house-elves, there were fifteen very healthy elves clad in black aprons which covered the front and behind. The aprons had the sign of the Deathly Hallows which also happened to be the crest for House Peverell at the back while Harry's family crest, a griffin with two snakes on either side inform of a bracket along with two swords crossed on the ground was on the front.

The house-elves looked regal and responsible even with their huge eyes and ears. The elf he had been talking to which Harry wouldn't have recognised except that it was standing in the same position as before spoke up again with a bow.

"Thank you very much great master. I am Triki and we are all proud to be bonded to one as powerful as yourself." The rest of the house-elves mimicked Triki and gave enthusiastic bows of respect.

"That is fine Triki, could you tell me where you have been and how you came to look like that." He asked curiously and frowned when he felt nervousness coming from the bods he shared with them.

" I am sorry great Master but I am not allowed to speak about where we have been." Triki said while his ears fell in shame. "As for why we looked like that, it was because we were not bonded and our systems were failing. While the Great Ones could keep us alive for as much as our bodies could handle, we couldn't bond with them and so our bodies kept degenerating."

Harry frowned wondering who these Great Ones were but he decided to drop that for the moment.

"Is this all of you or are there some others still there?"

"No master, this is all of us."

"You mean the whole of the magical world had only fifteen house-elves?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, great master. The rest of our kin were not young enough to live all that long without a bonded master. We are the only ones remaining and had you not come, we wouldn't have survived the year."

"I see."

"Er… not to sound disrespecting but where did you come from master." Triki asked carefully. "We once served masters we don't remember but they disappeared and no wizard has walked this planet after that."

Harry was surprised at the difference between Triki and the house-elves back home.

"I am not from around here. I was brought to this universe after I died in my own and my role here is to ensure that the magical world is brought back to life and I hope you all will help me along the way."

"Of course Great Master." Triki said with a bow.

"Are you aware of any magical creatures in existence.?" Harry asked.

"Yes Master and some have already settled in the forest." Triki said as he gestured at the intimidating looking forest on the western side of the property that was covered but the wards. "As this is the only place with true magic, many others will be coming in as this is now a beacon of sorts."

Harry nodded in understanding.

"Well in that case, I believe we should get to work on creating our home. I want you to destroy those ruins you are seeing. Any stones that can be used again you collect them in a pile. I want you to clear the place as we shall be building our home right from scratch." Harry instructed and he could see them bouncing in excitement at the prospect of work. "However, before you begin demolishing, I want you to sweep the castle and retrieve anything that is still in good shape or important. I will sort them and see what we can keep."

"Master if I may…" Triki asked and Harry nodded. "How about we collect everything still in good shape and put them in the eastern wing as we destroy the western wing. Then you can sort them while we work on the other wing."

Harry beamed at the elf. "Good idea Triki. Now I am going to find for you guys some lunch but in the meantime, you can get to work." The House-elves bowed and then disappeared with loud 'pops'.

Harry looked around the bushy court yard as well as the thick forest and realized that even with the help of house elves, he was going to take almost a month for the Manor to be completely finished and fit to live in. He turned to leave but he was interrupted by a flash of lightning just a few yards away from him. He swiftly cast a shield in front of him and settled into a fighting stance.

He blinked in confusion when he spotted what he recognised as a phoenix. It was beautiful, its snow-white feathers the same shade as Hedwig almost shining in the bright sunlight. Its wings were very white with a slight shade of blue and the wingtips were an electric-blue, the same as its eyes. Harry approached it and squatted next to it as it studied him.

He knew lightning Phoenixes did not exist in his home universe and were just considered myth. Unlike their fire counterparts like Fawkes which followed around those of the light and their role was to ensure there was balance between light and dark in the world, lightning phoenixes were believed to be fighters. They had the same healing tears like all phoenixes but their cry was not to calm down or please people but to encourage their companions as well as instill fear in their enemies.

According to myth, these kind only bonded to fighters and not just any fighters but those who fight to protect. They were the rarest type of phoenixes so it would be understandable when Harry spent over two minutes just gaping at the beautiful avian. He would have continued to stare if it had not chirped at him in irritation.

"Er…hi." He said with a slight blush. The phoenix continued to stare at him.

"So… what can I do for a beauty like you."

He was assaulted by certain images in his mind and blinked a bit before looking at him in amusement.

"You want to bond with me?" He asked in surprise after he had interpreted the images. He received other images and he got the feeling that it was…she… she was calling him an idiot.

"Well I am honored though I am wondering why me." He said and received a couple of images which he interpreted as 'you are the only one available you twit."

"Yeah, you got a point there I guess. So how do we do this?" harry asked and he was received a couple more images in answer. He concentrated his magic with his intentions clear and gently projected it towards the phoenix which seemed to absorb it into itself. He kept pushing until he started panting and a sheen of sweat formed on his forehead. His vision started blurring and white spots appeared before his eyes and then everything went black.

-ANLANLANLANL-

AN: I thank you all my readers and hope that this chapter has answered a couple of questions that I was being asked by reviews whom I could not answer. Once again, English isn't my first or even second language so please excuse my grammatical errors. And I am looking for a beta reader so anyone interested please you can contact me. See you next chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

A NEW LIFE

Chapter 4

Harry slowly opened his eyes and groaned. He was lying on a soft mattress and looking around the room he realized that he was in the hotel room back in London. He wondered how he had reached here but his answer appeared in a flash of lightning.

"So it wasn't a dream then?" He asked the Phoenix and got an irritated glare in return.

"Guess not." He muttered. "So what do I call you, I mean I can't simply call you phoenix now can I?"

He received a couple of images in return.

"You have no name?" he asked in confusion and the phoenix shook its head. "Well, I guess I will have to name you. Any suggestions?"

He got numerous images in answer which he did not understand in the least bit.

"I assure you, I didn't understand anything from what you just said. Well you seem very…colorful to me." Harry muttered as he pondered the best name to suit the beautiful bird. "How about… Nymphadora?"

He received a very fierce glare and he could have sworn the electric blue eyes were sparkling slightly with lightning and he nodded to himself in satisfaction.

"Yep, most definitely Nymphadora. It is a pretty name for such a beautiful lady like yourself." He said placatingly as he could feel the Phoenix was a second away from frying him and the bird ruffled her feathers in irritation though it didn't attack. It would seem like it enjoyed being flattered and it had actually agreed to the name.

"Excellent, so how long have I been here?" He asked as he sat up with a groan. "Bloody hell, it is like I haven't eaten anything in a week."

Nymphadora looked quite amused and Harry glared at her.

"The is nothing amusing about this Nymphadora, and what the hell happened back there, I feel like I have completely used up my magical core."

Nym sent him a couple of images.

"Uhm… I actually depleted my core, so how long till I am able to do magic… a week, are you insane?" Harry exclaimed and he was cuffed on the head by a white wing. "Ouch, I am feeling headache woman, I suggest you keep your wings to yourself."

He stood up and swayed on the spot, his stomach growled reminding him that he was extremely hungry.

"Triki…" He called out and the elf appeared with a 'pop.'

"Master are you ok?" the little creature asked in concern.

"I am fine Triki, how long has it been since I passed out?"

"It has been two days, master. We finished demolishing the castle and we are currently sorting everything." Triki answered dutifully. "We are just waiting for further instructions."

"Excellent Triki." Harry said and the elf beamed at him. "But where have you been staying, and have you eaten anything?"

"With how powerful you are, we could spend a year without eating anything and not feel hungry but we could easily find fruits in the forest in case we are very hungry." Then he fidgeted nervously. "As for where we slept, we left a room where we are keeping the things from the castle."

"That is fine Triki. I am very hungry right now and I am going to eat something then I will be joining you."

Triki nodded and he was just about to disappear and then he paused.

"Er… master, you do not have magic…how are you going to come."

"Oh don't worry about me." He assured the concerned elf. "Nyphie here can bring me, right Nym?"

He turned to look at the phoenix and she sent him a few images and disappeared in a flash of lightning.

"Wait, what do you mean you are not a taxi…hey come back here you little…little, oh forget it." Harry sighed and turned back to Triki. "You can go on ahead; I will call you when I am done eating."

The elf bowed and disappeared.

Harry somehow managed to drag himself to the restaurant and after demolishing a respectable amount of food, he flirted a little with Karen before going back to his room. It was already evening and Harry felt tired. He lay on his bed so he could rest few minutes and then go check on the house elves. However, the moment he closed his eyes he was out like a light and he didn't wake up until the next morning.

-ANLANLANLANL-

When Harry opened his eyes, light was streaming in through the windows as he had not drawn the curtains. It took him a moment to realize what had happened and he cursed under his breath. He slowly managed to get out of the clothes he had put on yesterday and staggered to the bathroom.

"What the hell happened to me?" he mumbled with a sigh as the water of the shower ran all over his body. "Blasted phoenix didn't even bother to tell me what would happen."

He ran a hand through his hair as he cursed cute blondes and ridiculous looking phoenixes. The bathroom was so peaceful that he would have spent the next hour just under the shower but his stomach growled reminding him of how hungry he was feeling. He slowly managed to drag himself from the bathroom and dried himself with a towel while wishing that he had his magic. He slipped into the clothes he had deposited on the floor on his way to the bathroom.

He pointedly ignored the phoenix that was perched on the headrest of his bed watching him with amused electric blue eyes and walked out of the room towards the lift. He usually didn't bother with the lift as he enjoyed walking down the stairs from the 8th floor where his room was but he was feeling very hungry right now that he didn't trust himself not to collapse on his way.

He glared at the two teenagers who looked to be not older than fourteen that he had found making out in the lift and the girl hid her red face in the boy's chest. He waited patiently as it descended up to the ground floor and the moment it opened, the girl fled the lift very fast that the boy even had trouble catching up. His mood wasn't helped by the rain outside.

"Blasted London weather." It was even worse that he had no magic. He braced himself and made a bee-line for the restaurant across the street and nearly knocked over some guy who was standing in his way. He entered the restaurant and took a seat in an empty booth.

"Hello Harry, you look awful." The familiar voice of Karen greeted just as he took his seat.

"I hate rain." Harry growled though he managed to crack a smile at the pretty blonde. "Could you get me something quite heavy, I feel like I haven't eaten in forever?"

"Anything in particular?"

"No, just get me anything that you feel will do."

The girl smiled and left. Harry tried not to look very impatient but it was not helped by the fact that his stomach decided to growl every two seconds. Somebody settled in the sea opposite him and Harry raised an eyebrow at the guy. He was quite tall, though harry was sure he was taller than him, he was well built and looked pretty strong. He had a rough face and a couple of scars but other than that, he was quite handsome and Harry knew that this man didn't have much problems with the fairer sex.

"What do you want?" Harry wasn't exactly in mood of chatting with strangers right now.

"Stop chatting up my girl." The guy said menacingly, his dark eyes glaring at Harry with promise of pain. "I have seen how you seem to flirt with her all the time and I suggest you keep away from her or there will be severe consequences."

Harry was not given a chance to say anything as the guy gave him one last scathing glare and left the seat as abruptly as he came and not five seconds later, Karen arrived with Harry's order.

"Harry, what was that about with Vincent?" she asked carefully.

"That guy is Vincent?" Harry asked and the girl nodded. "Apparently I am under special orders to stay away from you."

"Did he say that?" the girl asked with a frown.

"He might have said it more impressively than that but that is basically the point." Harry said as he started digging in. "I take it he is your boyfriend?"

"No, we broke up three weeks ago but all the guys here seem to be afraid of him."

Harry swallowed his food.

"He looks pretty scary and apparently quite possessive." He said. "Not that I blame, you are quite a beauty if I do say so myself."

"He has nothing to be possessive about and he most definitely doesn't possess me." Karen answered heatedly with a light rosy complexion on her cheeks.

"So, you wanna go for a movie or something over the weekend?" Harry asked conversationally even as he continued his meal.

"Are asking me out Harry?" Karen asked in amusement. "What part of "keep away" didn't you understand?"

"Oh, I understood alright. I have just decided ignore all of it."

"Quite daring of you."

"I can be pretty daring dear. And in all sectors by the way."

"Really." Karen asked with a grin.

"Yup, in fact some of my…acquaintances have developed a habit of calling me silver tongue."

"Really now…?" Keren grinned. "I never dabbed you for a braggart Harry."

"I like to think that I am a very honest person." Harry said seriously. The food was disappearing at alarming levels and he realized that he would have to send Karen back for another batch.

"Well I guess we shall find out on Saturday then." She answered with another grin and sauntered away from him. Harry saw from his peripheral vision as Vincent seemed to be almost bursting with anger as he recognised that angry shade of purple. To be honest he had not thought that anyone could achieve that accomplishment except his uncle Vernon but the world is always having something new to learn.

After about thirty minutes, Harry used the last of the money in the wallet he had _borrowed_ from an oblivious man on the street and left the restaurant. He gave Karen his hotel number and made a mental note to get himself a phone. Hermione had found a way to make electronics work in the presence of magic but the more advanced the tech in the device the more risk of it blowing up or even gaining sentience. Which meant that he wouldn't be holding any of the more improved smart phones around, not that he was very proficient at using one.

He found Nym in his room waiting for him. He gave the phoenix an apple and after she had gobbled it down, she jumped on his shoulder and they disappeared in a flash of lightning.

Phoenix and wizard appeared in the courtyard of the formerly castle and Harry smiled at the site that met him. True to Triki's word, the castle was no longer standing; the place was completely empty other than a big square shaped room in the middle. The clearing, Harry guessed was about the size of eight soccer pitches without the area covered by the forest. It was only at this point that he realized just how huge the castle had been. The huge room stood where the entrance hall had been while on its left was a hill of rectangular shaped blocks of stone which Harry guessed were the stones that had been reusable.

He slowly walked to the hall and found it bustling with activity as the fifteen house elves continued sorting the items that had been looted from the castle. In one corner there were huge trunks full of gold coins and items like goblets, cutlery and many other pieces of jewelry and three elves were sorting them in a fashion Harry was not sure he wanted to know. In another corner there were heaps of books that were being sorted too and placed on five different wall sized shelves. There were already many books on the shelves and many others were still on the floor in heaps. Harry smiled as he imagined Hermione's reaction if she were here.

 _She would probably pass out due to so many orgasms just by looking at the books._

He received a phoenix equivalent of snickering from Nym at the thought.

On the other side of the room were numerous pieces of furniture made out of unknown wood but Harry could feel some bit of magic radiating from them. There were tables, fancy looking chairs of all shapes, cupboards and many peculiar pieces of furniture. In the middle of the room was a pile of different unsorted items and every few seconds one item was levitated and sent to the area it belonged. The house elves seemed to be so busy that they seemed not to notice him so he slowly backed out of the room and went outside.

"Triki"

The elf in question appeared.

"Great master called me?" the elf asked.

"Yes Triki, you guys have done such marvelous work here." The small creature was practically glowing.

"We are you servants… we hope everything is to your satisfaction." He said shyly.

"I wouldn't have expected less." Harry agreed. "So when do you think you will be done with the sorting; I admit I hadn't expected to find all that."

"It is a pity that most things were useless but luckily, the Mistress' portrait was still intact."

"Portrait?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes Master. We found Princess Evangeline's portrait in the old cellar and she is most interested in meeting you."

"I will talk to her later." The portrait would be a good source of information about the extinct magical race of this world. There were a lot of things that he wanted to find out and most importantly was hoe the other people were capable of doing magic in this world like the bald Telepath, Xavier had told him. From what Luna had told him, magic like it was in his home Universe no longer existed in this 'verse. Well, before he came that is, but if there were other magic users, then he needed to know how that was possible and hopefully he would not have to fight against other magic users anytime soon.

"When you are finished with sorting, we shall begin on the first part of building ourselves a house and I will be working on coming up with the perfect rune set that we shall trace on the stones we shall be using to build the walls. So when you are finished, I want you to find as many items that could be used to trace runes on the stones as possible and when you are done, you come and find me."

While he could build the house the muggle way by just getting bricks and stones, he wanted to create a magical manor. The walls would not only be very strong but they would have magic going through them, with the Dragonstone as the anchor for the wards, the Manor will have magic through its walls for eternity. There would be no risk of the walls wearing because of weather or time and with time, the Manor would gain a certain bit of sentience like Hogwarts and Peverell Manor.

"Of course master. I think we shall be done in few hours." Triki said with a bow and popped back to the room. The little elf didn't know what to think of their new master, he was so powerful that just being in his presence made Triki feel like he was standing next to the sun even in his state where he was currently unable to do any magic. The fact that he seemed to treat Triki almost as an equal was better left alone.

"Well Nymphy, I believe we have work to do." Harry said to his companion currently resting on his shoulder who sent him a couple of images which involved a redhead.

"It is not my fault that I have done nothing but sleep for the last three days." He argued looking at the Phoenix with a frown. "And she knows my room, so if she wants to talk to me she already knows where to find me."

He received a couple of images in return and he nodded.

"You are right of course, we should get going and I should get started on those mirrors."

Harry felt a soothing heat envelop him and he closed his eyes, when he next opened them, he was back to his hotel room in London. Nym flew from his should and disappeared in flash of lightning to Merlin knows where. With a shrug, Harry picked a paper and a pen from his bedside table and went to the living room to get to work beginning with the communication mirrors.

Sirius had informed them of the mirrors the original Marauders had used while at Hogwarts and the bright minds in the New Marauders had been taken with the idea, it soon became the easiest form of communication the little group of fighters had. However, there had been numerous modifications to the mirrors; the originals were simply mirrors that enabled the four friends to talk to each other during detention and there was nothing special about them.

The New Marauders however felt that that would not be enough. Daphne, Hermione and Blaise had taken it upon themselves to put as many improvements as the little hand mirrors could take and in the end, they came up with something spectacular. The new mirrors were unbreakable, everyone was bonded to their mirror so that only the owner could use it and incase the mirror was misplaced or stolen, the person simply had to summon by a mere thought. The mirrors automatically released a notice-me-not field around the owner whenever it was being used and it also a portkey to Peverell Manor.

All the mirrors were connected to a wall sized mirror that was used to track them and in case someone was trapped somewhere, the people at the Manor would know right away. There were other enchantments like mild mental shields so long as the person had the mirror on them as they would be enough to keep any person out long enough for the person to bring up their own shields. The mirrors were also capable of detecting the dark mark and they would heat up if a person bearing the mark came in a certain range with the owner of the mirror.

There were other enchantments but couldn't remember all of them. He was there planning to make two mirrors and give one to Natasha if she agreed to train him so that they can stay in touch without worrying about the problem of electronics and magic. The main issue here was that Natasha wasn't magical and therefore Harry was trying to find a way of making these things work for a non-magical person.

He picked his Mokeskin pouch and pulled out the small hand mirror he had used back then and studied the runes at the back. For mirror to work, it would need a drop of a magical person's blood who it is bonded to therefore the challenge was to be make another communication mirror so that it is bonded to Natasha and be able to work despite her not having magical blood. With him not being able to perform magic, it was going to be very hard to accomplish this but he would have to find something.

Looking at the blank paper, Harry frowned and wrote on the top. " _NATASHA MIRROR"_ and he put it aside. He reached in his Mokeskin pouch and removed one of the three trunks inside. The trunk which was labeled Library. This single trunk contained all the books from the Potter, Black and Peverell libraries as well as all the books that had been in the family vaults. As the head of the house, he was free to photocopy any book and he had done that to all of the books in his possession leaving the original copies in the Library at Peverell Manor.

He pressed his thumb on a spot on top of the matchbox sized trunk.

~ _open~_

He hissed at it in perseltounge placed it on the floor. The trunk started expanding until it went back to its normal size. It was bigger than the average trunks used by wizards, much bigger than Moody's trunk where he had been kept prisoner by Crouch Jr. He picked the small book with a velvet cover and opened it to find ten pieces of blank parchment.

"Construction; Runes." He stated and five titles of books appeared on the first parchment.

" _RUNES FOR CONSTRUCTION BY ANASTASTACIA POTTER"_

" _MAGICAL CONTRUCTION FOR DUMMIES BY TOPISTA BOLTON"_

" _MAGIC AND CONSTRUCTION BY ANTONNIO WHITEHOUSE"_

" _NORSE RUNES IN CONTRUCTION BY H.B.K. BLACK"_

" _RUNE ART AND CRAFT BY RYAN POTTER"_

Harry selected the Book about Norse runes as he knew that the Asgardians were considered the greatest race in construction and enchanting. While he was not the scholar Hermione or Daphne had been, he knew a bit of history and these two elements were some of the things which made the people at Asgard to be respected to the extent of referring to them as gods. Their prowess in enchanting, warding and construction was so widely known even better than those Greek elemental wizards who had also gotten to the level of being called gods.

It had been such a long time for any wizard to have the power to match those of legend like the mighty Thor who came to be known as the god of thunder or Zeus the Lightning elemental who had led other elementals. These individual had done great deed in the history of magic even before magic evolved and the first Wizard Merlin, the "father of modern magic" as he was known started making his own mark on history. These were people who were considered legends, and Harry liked to think that if the hag had not babbled those words in the Hogs Head, then he would have strived to make sure that his name joined the list of legends.

Shaking his head as he tried to dispel such thoughts, Harry spoke out the title aloud and the small book started expanding in both length and width until it was a reasonable size exactly like the one in the library. He opened the book and looked for a particular section of the book that talked about merging of stones or any other building materials. When he found the place, he relaxed in his chair, and started reading.

-ANLANLANLANL-

Four hours later, Harry had come up with a working rune set. If the runes worked as he thought they would, every block that is having the runes would be strong and immune to effects like weather. It would also practically merge with the stone put next to it and at the end of everything, the wall would look like one single block of stone. He set the paper and pen down and put back the all-purpose book back into the trunk. He pressed another rune on top and the trunk shrunk back to the size of a matchbox.

He stood up and stretched to remove the knots in his back and neck as he put back the small trunk into the Mokeskin pouch. His stomach chose that very moment to growl quite loudly and Harry frowned. While he wasn't at the level of Ron, he had been doing a pretty good imitation as far as eating was concerned ever since he arrived. As a wizard, he did not necessarily, need to eat all the time and frankly, he could spend about two days with nothing and still be alright, at least that was before he came here.

Shrugging, he was just about to go down at Karen's and something to eat then he remembered that he didn't have any money on him.

"I am going to need to exchange some of these Galleons." Harry muttered to himself looking around for Nym but the phoenix was nowhere to be seen. To make matters worse, he was incapable of performing magic so he couldn't confound people to get a free meal.

"Nymphy." The phoenix appeared right above his head and Harry yelped as his hair caught fire. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he shouted at the bird who was chirping to herself in amusement while he used his shirt to put out the fire.

"That was not funny you over grown Turkey." He hissed at it through clenched teeth as he examined his hair in his communication mirror. Almost the left half of his hair was completely burned but he didn't care much as he knew that it would be back to normal by the time he woke up in the morning. That was not to mean that he had forgiven the phoenix.

"Triki."

"Master called Tri… what happened to your hair?" the elf asked with barely suppressed amusement and Harry glared at both Nym and the elf.

"Someone who happens to travel by lightning had the bright idea of teleporting above my head." He ignored the tears coming out of the elf's eyes due to suppressing its laughter. "Are you finished with sorting the items?"

"Er… yes master, in fact I was about to come and pick you when you called."

"Good." Harry said, intent on putting the hair incident behind him. "I have come up with a working rune set that we shall trace on all the blocks of stone we shall be using to build the mansion." He handed the paper to Triki. "I want you and your friends to write these runes on all the blocks."

The elf took the paper and nodded thoughtfully.

"You are very intelligent Master." Triki said breathlessly and Harry grinned at him.

"I know…" Harry answered with a smirk. "Did you by any chance find a Pensieve amongst the things you were sorting?"

Harry knew how rare the stone basins had been in his home universe and he didn't expect to find any but if this had been the last dwelling of the magicals, then all the remaining magical artifacts were there.

"I am sorry master, but there wasn't any." Triki answered while his ears fell in shame.

"That is fine Triki… I just wanted one so that I can find the blue prints of Grimmauld Place as I plan to build something similar but I guess I will do it the old fashioned way."

He also realized that he was going to need to invade that magical district in Scotland and see if he can loot some of the magical artifacts there.

"For the meantime, you give that to the others and you start tracing the Runes as I search through my memories for the blueprints and hopefully Nym will be around then." Harry grumbled at the end while looking at the bird perched at the windowsill that was still feeling very smug about burning his hair; the phoenix had a habit of disappearing when he needed her the most.

"Right away Master." The elf was about to pop away but he was interrupted by Harry.

"Wait… er before you go, is there a way you can get me some food." His stomach growled in agreement.

"Of course Master, it will be only a moment." The elf replied and disappeared. About a minute later, a plate of food appeared on the table where he had been sitting and then a glass of orange juice appeared next to it, Harry didn't waste time contemplating on where the food had come from, he descended on the food with reckless abandon while ignoring the look of disgust he was receiving from Nym.

After a vicious battle with the plate of food that Triki had made refilling, he stood up and slowly stretched. He was so full that he feared if he were to stick a finger in his throat, he would touch the food there. He went and took a shower as his fight with the refilling charm had left him sweaty and exhausted. After the shower, he fell on his bed and was soon asleep, his last thought before sleep claimed him was that he needed to work on his eating and sleeping problems.

When Harry opened his eyes, it was just past sunset and he figured it was about 6pm. Feeling refreshed, he walked to the living room and looked at the wall clock that was showing forty minutes past six. It would seem his magic had picked on his desires before he slept as when he woke up, the blueprints of Grimmauld place were at forefront of his mind. He grabbed a pen and a paper and started tracing everything on the paper.

When he was done, he got another piece of paper and started recreating the blueprints to match what he had in mind, the differences he wanted to make and also taking into account the position of the land compared to Grimmauld Place that was practically in the middle of London.

He drew a mental map of the area where he was going to build his Manor. Harry realized the Black's ancestral home wasn't as large as he had initially thought, looking at the blueprints on the paper, he figured that it was just because of the few residents, him, Sirius, Kreacher and occasionally Tonks that made the house appear to be very big. Knowing that he will be having other people coming to live with him soon, and also have students if Luna was to be believed then he was going to go for something bigger as well as additions of his own.

With that in mind, he started redrawing the plan for what he planned to call Potter's Cove. Wherever he got the name from, he had no idea but it just felt right.

In the basement, he included the dungeons which was original. He knew that he may not need them but really what kind of magical house does not have dungeons. He added a training room which he planned to include as many enchantments as possible so that it can be almost like the Room of Requirements at Hogwarts. The basement also included the kitchens that had a narrow set of stairs leading to the dining room above.

The ground floor was to have the majestic hallway which ended with the stairs leading to the upper floors. Harry made a note to include an umbrella stand in the shape of a severed leg of a Troll as a tribute to Tonks. At the far end of the hallway was a door to a set of stairs leading to the basement and the kitchens. Also on the other side of the hallway was the dining room and Harry decided to make it the same size with the one of Grimmauld Place.

On the first floor Harry put four rooms. Two bedrooms, a bathroom and most importantly a drawing room which Harry planned to turn into a muggle room. This was to have two large windows overlooking the front courtyard. Harry planned to put everything non-magical that ended up in his house in this room. He obviously was going to get a T.V and when he managed to get a phone, this would be the place to use if from without frying it.

On the second floor was the library. The third floor was to have four bedrooms at the beginning, each with a bathroom of its own and a balcony. With the runes that were to be put into the stones while building, it will be easier for the Manor to provide more rooms in case they were needed. The fourth floor, was to have the master bedroom, Harry's study as well as a potions lab. While has was by no means Snape or Lily, Harry was quite gifted at potions though he was no master brewer. However, he would need potions of course as they were some of the most important subject of magic in wizarding day-to-day life.

With that done, Harry stood up and stretched a bit. He looked at the wall clock and sighed, it had been three hours since he woke up. Setting the plans aside, harry got the paper where he had written Natasha mirror and sat down again. The idea of the runes on the stone gave him an idea on how to bond the communication mirror to Natasha even without her having magic. He was going to have to create a rune set that connected Natasha's mirror to his own so that it can feed off his magic yet be bonded to Natasha by blood. It would mean that Harry could summon and be able to use it but Natasha would be considered the primary owner of the mirror.

Harry sighed and started working on finding a working rune set. He wasn't even sure the redhead would train him but he would give her the mirror nonetheless. While he didn't plan on joining SHIELD and going to any ridiculous missions for them, he was willing to fight in defense off the world in case of an external attack and he was sure if such an attack happened, then SHIELD would be among the first people to know about it.

About an hour later, he was finished with a working set.

"Triki…" Harry called and the elf appeared looking as vibrant as ever. "How is the work moving?"

"Very fine master. We have numerous items that are drawing the rune so we shall be done in a couple of days."

Harry smiled at the elf.

"That is very good. Well I am sorry to disturb you from your work…"

"There is no need to apologize, Great Master is too kind." The elf interrupted.

"Er…well I was wondering if you could conjure for me a mirror this size." Harry said and showed the little creature his own communication mirror.

"I can conjure the mirror but it will not have the enchantments or of the same quality as that one." Triki replied despondently.

"That is alright, I just want one to experiment. And you could you also procure me a dagger so that I am able to trace the runes."

The elf nodded and snapped his fingers twice and a hand mirror appeared next to Harry's along with a curious looking… knife?

"Thank you Triki, I will call you if I need anything else." Triki bowed and disappeared with a 'pop'.

Harry rubbed his hands together in preparation and grabbed the… sharp thing he had been left and started carefully tracing the runes at the back of the mirror. Runes, like potions were very volatile if handled carelessly and Harry was not so keen on having the mirror blowing up in his face especially now that he had three days before he was able to use magic. According to Nym, he should be able to perform magic in the next three days and then the construction of his home would move faster. He also reminded himself that constructing a needs more than just building a house but he would deal with the rest after finishing with the home."

Harry shook those thoughts away and concentrated on competing the last rune on the mirror that connected the two. he then held it in his hand and cleared his throat.

"Potter." He called out while projecting his intention to communicate with the other mirror. At this point the mirror was simply a communication mirror therefore the modifications like unbreakable, summoning, tracking, portkey and mind shields were inactive since it was not bonded to anyone. Harry of course wasn't planning on giving it to Natasha since it was a conjured item and would eventually disappear but it would do for now.

He smiled in satisfaction as the reflective surface of the mirror became slightly glassy as it waited for the person on the other end to answer. Harry picked up his other mirror and hissed at it in perseltounge.

~answer~

The mirror cleared and it was now showing another image. Grinning triumphantly, Harry checked on the time to see that it was half past eleven. He arranged his notes together, separating them from those of the plan and put them in the trunk that possessed the books. He then got a blank piece of paper penned down a note for Natasha asking her to meet him in his hotel room at her earliest convenience and to come with a hand mirror if it wasn't much trouble. At that very moment, Nym appeared in a flash of lightning and landed on his shoulder, Harry had not even realized that the phoenix had left.

"Hey there beautiful." He greeted her and she seemed to increase in size at the praise. "You think you could help me deliver this to Natasha?"

She sent him a couple of images that Harry translated as affirmative.

"Well, that would be greatly appreciated." He smiled at the bird and scratched on its head. It enjoyed the sensation before it gave him an appreciative nip on his ear, flew of his shoulder and disappeared in a flash of lightning.

Harry put back the Library trunk in the Mokeskin pouch and went to his bedroom. Swiftly getting out of his clothes, and dived under the covers, within minutes, he was fast asleep.

-ANLANLANLANL-

Due to his exhaustion and slowly refilling magical core, Harry's senses did not pick on the opening of a Bifrost as it brought The Destroyer to earth, because this happened just after his bonding with Nym. Because he had been so tired and when he slept he was out like a light, he missed the magical surge as Thor re-bonded with Mjolnir because of his sacrifice and he also missed the battle between Thor Odinson and the Destroyer that had been sent by his adopted brother to kill the god of thunder.

Therefore, when Nym went looking for Natasha four days later, she could pick on the remains of a magic battle but had no idea where it was coming from. She could also pick up a very strong magic presence in a briefcase that was being carried by the woman she had been sent to find. Knowing that whatever was in the case would interest her human, Nym decided to keep from revealing herself and followed the woman and the one-eyed man as they were in one of those flying things of theirs. Nym wondered how something could make all that noise just because it was flying but she just counted it as one of those odd things about humans.

The flying-noise-making thing landed near a very big house… warehouse, and the one-eyed man as well as the beautiful woman got out. They were followed by another man who was slightly older and had an air of knowledge around him. Nym, let her consciousness follow the group as they entered the building knowing that it would be hard to conceal herself if she went after them. There were many things having different colors of light but she didn't bother with them, her attention was on the three humans as they went deeper into the facility until they reached a certain door.

Nym watched as the knowledgeable man was given a seat while the one-eyed man took a seat across the other. The woman placed the briefcase in the middle of the table and went to stand by the door next to another magical presence. Nym's consciousness recognised the magic that was shielding the man from the other humans and she was sure that her human would have recognised it had he not been sleeping like the little baby he is. She ignored the magical immortal as he was not harming the humans but she was prepared to jump in incase something happened.

"Like I said Dr. Selvig, SHIELD is in desperate need of your expertise. As you witnessed four days ago, there are many individuals out there that would jump at the chance of destroying earth." The one-eyed man was saying.

"Thor did not want to destroy this world." The knowledge man, Selvig said defensively but he was interrupted by one eye.

"I am not talking about Thor but as you saw, there will be others interested in attacking us just like that Destroyer. Given the ease with which they came and left, we can be sure that there will be others who will be coming just as easily and we will have no way of fighting back. You clearly saw how powerful the thing had been and our normal ammunition would be useless in case others of those things were to invade our planet."

"So what are suggesting. I am no fighter, nor am I a weapons expert." Selvig said after a moment of contemplation. Nym could feel the invisible immortal performing some kind of magic to encourage the Selvig human to allow whatever he was asked to do. She realized the immortal was after something yet she was sure that their race was under strict rules concerning interference with humans.

One eye opened the briefcase and changed it to face Selvig.

"I was hoping that you could do a bit of tinkering on this and help us come up with something."

The Selvig human's eyes widened.

"What is this, I can feel some kind of power being generated by it."

"That, Dr. Selvig is the cube that was used to create Captain America." One eye answered and Selvig's eyes widened even farther. "The Skrull used it to create extremely powerful weapons and we are hoping that with your help we can create our own that we shall use to defend earth in case of an attack."

The Selvig man seemed to be conflicted but the invisible immortal did more magic and he nodded slightly.

"Good. Then I believe it is time to get to work."

Nym retrieved he consciousness from the room. She couldn't risk the intruding immortal not to detect her presence and she was not willing to risk something like that. She had already gotten enough information for her human as she knew he was intelligent, well as intelligent as humans can be, and he would work with the information she had got him to reach whatever conclusions he wished. She waited for the fire-haired woman to come out so that she could give her the offending piece of paper in her claws that was disrupting her good looks and go back to watching her human. She didn't have to wait long and the one-eyed man along with the woman came out of the building heading to the noise making-flying thing.

She briefly considered gracing the humans with the most magnificent sight they would ever see in their pitiful lives but decided against it. She knew her human didn't feel that they were ready to see her though he never said it aloud in fear of offending her. Her human knew never to offend her, she had indeed trained him well. Just as the two humans settled in their seats, she willed her power to manifest just above the woman and with a brief flash of lightning, the paper in her claws disappeared and appeared in the lap of the woman.

The woman yelped at the sight of lightning in her lap but since she was being restrained by the belt she stayed still and then slowly picked the paper while looking at it suspiciously. She slowly unfolded it and read with a frown.

"It's from Potter." The woman said while looking around as if expecting someone to appear.

"What does he want?" the man asked.

"He wants to know whether I have come to a decision. And to meet him in his room when I want to talk."

"What have you decided?"

"I will train him while trying to get as much information as possible and see if I can persuade him to join us."

The man was quiet and Nym new that the woman was waiting for orders from the man.

"Do it. But you must be careful around him. And don't forget to protect your mind."

"Yes, sir. And apparently he wants me to go with a hand mirror." There was amusement in the woman's voice.

"A _mirror?"_

"Uhm."

"Why would he want a mirror…" the one-eyed man asked incredulously.

"I have made it a point to avoid trying to understand what goes on in Harry's head."

"I believe that is for the best for all of us." The man agreed.

Nym was no longer interested in the conversation after that. She felt out for the presence of the immortal intruder but she couldn't find him which meant that he had left. She had a lot to tell her human, and hopefully he would give her more of those fruits they called apples, not to mention scratch her again. She owned a very nice human.

-ANLANLANLANL-

Meanwhile, at 177A Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, New York City, at the Sanctum Santorum as was known to certain individuals, a flaming ring appeared and a weary looking man came through the portal. His black hair full of slime and blood hiding the white at the temples, tired looking grey eyes looked around the room as he wobbled slowly. A chair slid from its position and settled just in time to save him from sinking onto the floor.

"Wong…" despite his apparent lack of strength, the man's voice was quite clear and was carried easily through the quiet house.

"Stephen is that you…" Wong called back and a rushing of steps was heard as Stephen's most trusted friend rushed to him. "My, God what happened to you?" the Asian bald man asked in concern seeing his friend's condition.

"Nothing life-threatening." Stephen Strange said waving away his butler's concern however he was seized by a fit of coughing and Wong opened a small portal, stuck his hand in and retrieved a glass of water.

"Here take some water." He prompted and Stephen took the glass and gulped it down, he was about to ask for more but the glass refilled again. Sending an appreciative look at his friend, he gulped down the water and sighed as he felt reenergized.

"Did…did you add something in the water?" he asked Wong suspiciously and the Asian martial arts master shuffled from one foot from the other.

"Er, just a calming draught, I thought you would need it."

Stephen gave his friend a penetrating look and Wong became even more nervousness. "You never cease to amaze me with your insightfulness, Wong."

"What… so you are not mad?"

"Why would I be mad?" Stephen asked seriously, with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I just added something you didn't ask for, and with the look you were giving me…" Wong trailed off as he saw Stephen's lips twitching as he fought against a smile.

"I am not mad at you, and even if I wanted to, you just gave me a calming draught, isn't it meant to keep me from getting mad…"

"Er… I guess."

Stephen rolled his eyes and stood up. "I will be taking a shower, if you have anything of importance you can tell me after."

The cloak of levitation unwrapped itself from his shoulders and went back to its favorite cupboard. Stephen didn't spare it a glance and he just continued on his trek to the bathroom leaving behind a trail of slime, and blood on the floor. Wong just shook his head and moved his hand in an intricate pattern, calling upon the mystic arts and the offending things were wiped leaving the floor as clean if not cleaner than it had been.

One hour and thirty minutes later, a very clean Stephen Strange walked into his study.

"I will never understand why any person would two hours in a bathroom."

"One hour and thirty-five minutes Wong. And it is called personal hygiene, maybe you should try it sometime." Stephen replied as he took a seat. "Anything of importance happened in the last two weeks, well other than you setting all the books on fire in the library of course in your attempt to access the "The Book of Vishanti."

Wong spluttered a bit with a blush.

"I… I had nothing to do with that."

"I imagined as much." Stephen assured him with a nod of understanding and Wong's blush increased in intensity.

"The Orb of Agamotto activated." He instead blurted out hoping it would distract the Sorcerer Supreme and save him some embarrassment. It worked as that grabbed Stephen's attention and he leaned forward while looking at Wong intently.

"And…" he prompted.

"The first time was on Tuesday when you had just left, a portal opened in Russia but by the time I arrived, it was closed and a little seven-year girl was missing." Wong explained.

"Was there anything special about the girl?"

"Not to my knowledge but her brother was a mutant which seemed odd as I would have expected them to after the brother instead of the girl who seemed to have no powers at all."

Stephen got that look which indicated he was thinking of something.

"This Portal, did you know where it was headed?" he asked with the same look still plastered on his face.

"I… I am actually not very sure."

Stephen raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"It's not that I failed to determine the destination, it's just that it shouldn't be possible." Wong explained while gesticulating as he tried to make the other man understand.

"You live with Surgeon who happens to be the Master of the Mystic Arts and you still believe in the impossible?"

"Not really… wait is that even supposed to mean something?"

"Of course it does, now why don't you tell me and I will be the one to decide the possibility rate of your observations."

"It led to Limbo." Wong said grimly.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely, and as far as I am aware He is incapable of interfering in matters on earth."

" _Directly."_ Stephen stressed the word.

"So you think it wasn't Him, maybe a servant of His, trying to please him?"

"I imagine so, and that is probably why the Orb could find the portal or the intruder, I am quite he would be capable of cloaking himself from it."

"But why take the girl, she is not even a mutant." Wong asked in confusion. There was something important that they were missing here.

"What was the girl's name?"

"Illyana. Illyana Rasputin."

-ANLANLANLANL-

AN: Just to make one thing clear, there is magic in this universe but it has evolved and not like it was in the Harry Potter universe. Thank you for the reviews and I next chapter will come out earlier. Hopefully.


	5. Chapter 5

A NEW LIFE

Chapter 5

 _Disclaimer: As I am sure you have guessed; I am not J.K. Rowling. I am not even sure she writes fanfiction but she is the one who owns Harry Potter. And the Marvel verse, I haven't found out but I don't own it either. A Stan Lee and a Jirk something must have a very good idea though._

-ANLANLANLANL-

When Harry woke up the next morning, the first thing he registered was that his hair had grown back to how it had been and that it was raining outside. No surprise there. And he was _extremely_ hungry. Again, no surprise there. It was becoming some sort of norm for him to wake up very hungry, something he needed to discuss with Nym about. Speaking of Nym, she was parched at the headrest of his bed, looking like the queen of peacocks, with her beak in the air. Harry had to admit she looked beautiful, though she could do without the haughtiness. Catching his thoughts, her beak seemed to raise even higher, her neck becoming longer and Harry smiled at her.

"What has got you looking all important?" the phoenix continued holding its neck straight and Harry was wondering if she had injured it. She turned her head the slightest bit and Harry realized that she had probably caught that thought as well. "Well if you let me pee, I will join your beautiful self and you can tell me whatever news you have for me."

Harry muttered and left a practically glowing Phoenix behind as he went to the bathroom to relieve himself. He ran through what he had done yesterday and a smile slowly appeared on his face. Today, he would start building his home. It was a pity that his family would never see it but at least they were alive and safe. He wondered when he would be able to visit them again but since he knew they twins were at Hogwarts, he would most likely be seeing only the twins. Since his sacrifice's main objective was to save the twins, he was more connected to them than he is to Daphne, just like he had been more connected to Lily since she sacrificed herself so that he may live.

He chuckled humorlessly at the turn about where his mother sacrificed herself so he may live only for him to do the same to save his own children. He hoped this trend wouldn't continue to the next generation. Shaking his head to dispel such thoughts, he left the bathroom and found his companion in a different pause of importance and smiled her.

"If you are done feeling very important, you can come and tell me whatever you want." He offered her his arm and she looked at it for a few seconds as if trying to determine if it was worthy for her to step on it. She gave what Harry assumed was a sigh of resignation and regally stepped on it. He refrained from rolling his eyes as she would get offended and probably withhold whatever information she had. He walked to the living room as Nym took her place on his right shoulder and he sat down at his working table.

"Triki." The appeared almost instantly.

"Master called Triki?"

"Yes, Good morning Triki." He greeted the elf and its ears dropped in embarrassment. "Don't get shy on me now Triki."

"Master is too kind; I am not worthy of the way you treat me."

"Of course you are worthy silly." Harry answered doing his best Luna impression. "You are my servant but that doesn't make you inferior. And stop crying, that is unbecoming of a servant of House Potter."

The elf wiped its tears and looked at Harry with respect and devotion that not even Dobby had managed to achieve. "Of course Master, thank you very much."

"You are welcome. Now could you get me something to eat, and get this lady on my shoulder some apples." Triki disappeared and a few seconds later, a plate full of bacon, sausages and eggs as well as a medium sized teapot and a cup. A bowl having about six apples appeared and Nym seemed to be consciously restraining herself from jumping onto the bowl. A 'pop' later, Triki appeared and looked at him.

"Is everything to your liking master?"

"Yes Triki, thank you very much. Though I am wondering where you got all this from."

"Are you sure you want to know master?" Triki asked with a grin that wasn't like him at all.

"Uhm, I guess not." He started digging in and Triki waited patiently for him. Harry paused when he realized his avian companion wasn't eating. "Nym?"

As if she had been waiting for his word, she abandoned her act of royalty and flew off his shoulder, grabbed an apple from the bowl and tore into it with reckless abandon. Harry started chuckling in amusement at her enthusiasm but she glared at him and he stopped immediately. The rest of the meal was spent in companionable silence as both individuals devoured their respective meals. When Harry finished, he retrieved the plans for the communication mirror and the house from his trunk and gave the house plan to Triki.

"Triki I would like you to have a look at the plan and tell me what you think about it." He handed the papers to a confused house-elf.

"Er, master? I don't think I have any right to do that." The elf said carefully and Harry raised his eyebrow.

"That is fine Triki, I just want your honest opinion and if there are any additions you would like to suggest, then I give you permission to tell me."

"Er… well I was just wondering, isn't it a little too big for one person." Triki said hesitantly. "Not that there is anything wrong with it." He added quickly and Harry smiled at him.

"That is alright Triki, but while I'll be the only one at the moment, I expect to have other people join in the future." He explained. "With me coming back, wizards and witches will start coming into their powers and they will need a place to stay and learn to use their magic without being hunted down. So others, mostly children will be joining us there."

"What about a teleportation chamber. There are others who are able to teleport and I think it would be better if they arrive at a place you can monitor." Triki suggested more confidently this time seeing that he had had not been punished the first time. Harry looked at the elf stupidly and then grabbed the still eating phoenix and hit himself in the face. The phoenix squawked in annoyance and cuffed him on the head with its wing the moment he set it down but Harry was not even paying attention to it.

"That is brilliant Triki, how did I not think about that." He remembered that there had been such a room at Peverell Manor and that whoever apparated with in the wards, they would be directed to that room apart from the Lord of the house and the house elves. "It's probably because the house whose plan I copied didn't have one such rooms. Any other brilliant ideas Triki?"

"Well since the house will not be as big as the Castle was, I think you may include somethings like an orchard, and other things in the compound."

"Yeah, I had planned to do that and also include a green house where I can grow my potions ingredients. Anyway, thanks Triki for the meal and the advice. so how is the work with the rune inscribing going?" Harry asked and Triki beamed at him.

"Everything is going fine Master. In fact, from what I can see here, what we have finished would be enough to build the basement and ground floor." The elf answered proudly and Harry whistled at the speed and efficiency.

"Wow, I guess we should get ready to begin then." He was quiet for a moment as he looked at the elf and Triki started shifting nervously. Whatever her master was thinking wouldn't be very good. "Well Triki, am expecting a guest anytime but I am not sure when she will be here due to the time zones."

"Time what?"

"Zones Triki, but what I am trying to say is that I want you to go with that paper having the plan for the basement and you select the best spot for the house and get a few more house elves and start digging for the basement." Triki looked at Harry for a moment as he opened his mouth and closed it. Seeing that the elf was about to protest Harry spoke again. "I will be joining you soon, now GO"

The elf disappeared with a reluctant pop and Harry turned to Nym who was giving him the evil eye, still miffed at him for having interrupted her meal. Harry smiled at her. "So, what was my beautiful companion planning to tell me this morning?"

Nym looked to be torn for a few seconds before she straightened her posture and shared with him her memory of her journey. This meant that Harry witnessed everything like he was Nym and could even hear the phoenix's thoughts. When the memory was done Harry looked at the phoenix smiled at her.

"You never stop to amaze me with your abilities Nym." She released a few appreciative trills as Harry scratched her in the place he now knew she enjoyed. "From what you described, these immortals sound like they are Asgardians and Fury mentioned someone called Thor." Nym shrugged. So long as they didn't bother her, she preferred to ignore the rest of the creatures.

"So Fury is playing with some very powerful magical artifact that is not even entirely magical which he doesn't know that it's magical and somebody, probably of Asgard origin is pulling the strings and wants them to work on the artifact." Harry mulled and Nym sent him a couple of images in answer. "You think he wants them to activate it, maybe it is a key to a prison where a friend is being kept?" the phoenix nodded.

"But how does he expect muggles to activate an artifact. Unless it is some other form of magic that works well with technology. You think we should warn SHIELD?" Harry asked his companion and Nym shook her head. "You are right. We wouldn't want to make enemies this early when I haven't even completed my home. So we just sit this out and keep an eye out then. Though I am curious about this Thor and whoever is behind this. If they are Asgardians, then Asgard exists in this universe. Guess I will try to get some answers from our visitor."

Harry was curious indeed. He didn't know everything about Asgard but he was sure they were extinct in his home universe. He was sure there were some books in library talking about them but from what he remembered, they were a warrior race that mostly kept to themselves. In fact, there had been a rules that regulated their interactions with mortals. Whatever this one was after, his people would deal with it, then again, he could be going a head of himself on this.

"You did well Nymphy." Harry told the phoenix and it trilled in pride. "So… I am your human uh?" she straightened and made her earlier pause of superiority and Harry laughed. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Harry was quiet as he pondered this new development. He was not ready to interfere in the things going on around him but if this immortal threatened the world, then he would act. He wasn't the kind of person to sit down and watch the world burn around him just because it didn't affect him. Hermione called it his " _saving people thing",_ Daphne called it _Potter's_ _stupidity and idiocy_. He was fond of the later though he preferred the former.

However, this brought something important that he had been putting off. He needed to find a way of tracking magic users on earth. He wasn't sure when the first witch or wizard would be appearing but he would need to keep an eye on any magical activities going on. He set Nymphadora aside and got a number of tomes from his trunk library about wards and he set to work to create the permanent ward scheme he was to use on his home. He knew that he won't be able to keep himself secret forever and at some point, he will have people coming for him. Therefore, he would have to come up with a ward structure that would withstand both mundane and magical attacks.

Having managed the wards of Grimmauld place and Peverell Manor, it was easier to combine the two and make his own. He also added other wards since none of the other houses had a forest on their grounds. He knew that there would be creatures of all sorts in his forest and he wouldn't want them to attack him so he needed one which would keep them from attacking anyone of his blood or those on the grounds unless they had intentions of harming him.

He sat on the floor with numerous papers lying around while five tomes were open which he consulted from time to time as he created exactly what he was going to use. Nym kept around and was the one who suggested that he use the magical ley lines since they were like a network moving around the whole planet. Since the Dragonstone, which worked as the anchor for the wards was practically part of that network, he could connect a ward to it that would notify him of any magical activity and where exactly. But that had its own problems as he was aware there were other people capable of doing magic and the signals could easily be overwhelmed.

He put the idea aside for future consideration as he would have to read as many tomes as possible and he just didn't have the time. And speaking of tomes, Harry found himself in need of one from the Peverell liberally but he couldn't remember the name or even how it looked like, which meant he couldn't use the summoning book. So the only option was to enter the trunk and search the books on wards manually. Cursing his lack of magic for the hundredth time, he pressed on the expanding Rune and the trunk expanded into its normal size. It was slightly bigger than the other two trunks in both length and width but it was even bigger on the inside.

Harry gave a short prayer to the person who thought of space expansion. While magic made almost everything possible, it was limited by the user's imagination and the person who invented space expansion needed a hand shake. Harry strolled through the huge library, numerous bookshelves having many books on either side of him. The library was a huge hall, exactly the same size as the Hogwarts library and was therefore packed. There were six booths on each of the four walls where seven people could seat comfortably and these were the only one as the spaces which had the seats in the Hogwarts library were filled book shelves here.

Harry spent a good thirty minutes searching for the book and it was about half past noon when he stuck his head out of the trunk only to find himself looking into the barrel of a gun. He looked around the gun to see green eyes looking at him with a rainbow of emotions. Surprise, relief, fear, excitement and a bit of …fear?

"Hello Agent Romanoff." Harry greeted as he hauled himself out of the trunk. "Weren't you taught that it is rude to point that thing at your host?"

"Did you just come out of that… what the hell?"

"Language Natasha." Harry admonished automatically as he helped Nym who had just flown out of the trunk carrying the huge book. The phoenix was surprisingly strong for a snob. "Ouch, would you keep your wings to yourself woman."

Natasha slowly lowered her gun as she regarded the two. She had just witnessed someone come out of a small trunk along with some beautiful bird coming out after him carrying a book that the bird had no right to be able to even open the cover. Said bird had put down the book and smacked Potter on the head only for Natasha to find out the bird was somehow female.

"Hello, anyone home... Earth to Natasha…" Harry waved his hand and Natasha blinked and looked at the trunk only it wasn't there but the beautiful snow white bird was standing on the table, somehow _opening_ the book as if looking for a particular page. Natasha looked around the room as she saw papers everywhere and five huge open books lying on the floor.

"Good of you to join us." Harry said as he sat down next to Nym. "I was beginning to think that you wouldn't come."

"And how exactly did you know that I would come?" Natasha raised an eyebrow as she took a seat.

"I didn't, I just assumed that you would and Baldy would have wanted you to persuade me to join and if not milk as much information from me as possible." He answered without missing a beat as he started reading the page Nym had opened for him. "Oh and this beautiful companion of mine is Nymphadora, but she is not very fond of the name, you just call her Nym."

"Hi, I am Natasha" Natasha waved at the bird awkwardly and the bird gave a slight nod. She could have sworn that Nym winked at her but birds don't do that.

"She is a Phoenix, who has the power to manipulate lightning."

"Phoenixes are real?" Natasha asked in astonishment and the bird gave her a bow, spreading her wings and bending her leg slightly. "Wow, so what else is real, Dragons, Unicorns, Cerberus, flying horses, genies…."

"All the first three are real, flying horses are called Thestrals, I have never heard of genies but they probably used to exist in my home universe but were extinct."

"Well, that is… I don't know, hard to take in I guess." Natasha said.

"I have a book which I could give you and you have a look." Harry offered and Natasha perked up. "But you should first give me that hand mirror I was talking about."

"I have tried to think of why you would want a mirror but I am coming up blank." Natasha said as she gave him the mirror. Harry frowned as he tried to imagine where she had been keeping it since she was wearing her suit and there didn't seem to be any pockets where she could have kept it.

"I am not going to ask where you were keeping it." He said as he put aside the book he had been reading. He picked the papers having the rune set for the communication mirrors.

"Good idea. So are you going to tell me what the mirror is for."

"You remember I told you that technology doesn't mix well with magic?" Harry asked as he started tracing the runes on the back of the mirror. "There are of course ways to avoid that but my father and his friends came up with a way to communicate using mirrors."

"What? How is that even possible?"

"I could say magic but I am sure you already know that." Harry answered with a smile.

"How does it work?"

"You will find out soon, just let me concrete here or the thing may just explode." Harry answered and then received a couple of images from Nym. He nodded and she disappeared in a flash of lightning making Natasha jump. Before she could ask anything, Nym appeared again in her lap making her yelp and fall from her seat. Harry quietly snickered to himself.

"That book is a copy of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_. You can have a look at most magical creatures inside and _please_ don't interrupt me." Harry said and went to work.

Natasha slowly picked the book as if expecting it to bite her and Harry smiled wishing that he had given her _The Monster Book of Monsters._

There was silence for the next few minutes as everyone concentrated on whatever they were doing. It was broken every few seconds by Nym who was eating the remainder of the apples or gasps from Natasha. She kept looking at Harry numerous times as if to ask something but then thought better of it.

Ten minutes later, Harry finished tracing the runes and that remained was Natasha to bond with it. He went to said woman who was completely engrossed in the book, he took a peek and smiled as he remembered his encounter with the creature in the picture.

"The Hungarian Horn-tail." Harry said from above her shoulder and the redhead didn't even move as she watched the dragon stand up, stretch its wings and then swipe its horned tail towards the camera. "That dragon is a real piece of work. Gave a rather cute scar in my fourth year that introduced me to the wonderful world of sex."

"You had sex with a dragon?" Natasha asked in amusement and Harry gaped at her.

"Are you telling me that out of everything I said you only herd sex and dragon?"

"Of course not silly. So how can it move in a photo."

"Most photos in the magical world move." Harry answered as he retrieved the book from her. "Anyway, since you have agreed to train me, we shall need to stay in contact and this is what we need. I want you to put a drop of blood on this rune."

"I haven't agreed on anything."

"Of course you have, you wouldn't be here if it wasn't the case." Harry answered. "Now, the blood please, I have other things to do."

Natasha looked skeptical but seeing that he wasn't going to budge, she got a knife from God knows where and made a small cut on her palm and allowed one drop of blood to fall on the rune in question. The mirror glowed orange and went back to normal. Harry looked at Natasha's wound for second and retrieved his Mokeskin pouch. He pushed his hand into it and concentrated on the _essence of dittany_ and he brought out his hand holding a vail of the potion.

"Whoa, how did you do that?"

"This baby here is a Mokeskin pouch and it has an undetectable extension charm. It can store a lot of things that wouldn't fit under normal circumstances."

"What is a Moke….and what is in that vail."

"I have no idea what a Moke is, but this is a potion called _essence of dittany_ and as to what it does, give me your hand." Harry asked and Natasha tentatively brought her hand. She didn't know why she was trusting him but it just felt right. Harry held her hand and opened the vail with his mouth. He then allowed two drops of the brown healing potion on to the wound. Wisps of greenish smoke rose out of the small wound and Natasha winced as there was some stinging but when the smoke cleared, there was no wound.

"Holy fucking shit… how, how in the name of all that is holy did that happen?" Natasha asked wide eyed as she looked at her clearly _unmarked_ hand. There was completely no sign of there ever being a wound on her hand.

"That, my dear tutor is the power of magic." Harry told her perhaps enjoying her wide-eyed look too much. "Unfortunately, that potion is very hard to brew and that is the only vail I have until I am able to find the ingredients needed."

"But that is great, a potion that leaves even no scar, do you know how much money you could make with that?" Natasha asked and Harry shrugged.

"Like I said, it is hard to brew and very rare, I only showed it to you because I wanted to impress a pretty lady." Harry said as he stowed away the potion back to the Mokeskin pouch. "It is very powerful and I only use it with extreme injuries as I mostly use my magic to heal most injuries."

"Magic can heal?"

"Magic can do almost anything Agent Romanoff. It is only limited by the imagination, power and will of the caster. Now, why don't you try summoning your mirror into your hand."

"What?" Natasha asked, surprised at the sudden change of subject.

"The hand mirror is bonded to you, so I want you to concentrate and will it to appear in your hand." The redhead looked at the mirror in Harry's hand did as she was told and sure enough it disappeared and appeared in her right hand. She immediately dropped it in surprise but before she could catch it, it fell on the tiled floor, only it didn't shatter like she had expected.

"It should be broken." She said looking at Harry knowing that he has an explanation.

"Other than being… er…summonable, it is unbreakable and can only be used by you. It will bite anyone who holds it without your permission. And I mean literary." Harry explained and walked a distance away from her. "Why don't you try calling me, just hold it in your hand and say my name. Harry Potter while projecting your intention to communicate with me."

Natasha looked at the innocent mirror in her hand and her reflection frowned at her. She raised her right eyebrow at it and it raised its left and winked at her with its right eye. She turned to look at Harry incredulously and he smiled innocently. "Yeah, it has a few other enchantments which make looking at yourself quite interesting.

She just shook her head and said "Harry Potter" while projecting her intentions like he had said. The image became blurry for a second before a perfectly clear image of Harry's face appeared in the mirror. "Seeing that you almost dropped the mirror again, I am assuming it worked."

The Harry in the mirror spoke in Harry's perfectly normal voice and Natasha once again found her mouth gaping. "What is the limit for the distance between the two mirrors?"

"I am not sure. But I think you could be at the moon and we would still be talking unless there is something preventing magic from functioning." He answered with a shrug. "Now, I will not be able to start training for the next two weeks so you can come up with a convenient schedule." Harry said as he started collecting the tomes. He put the library trunk on the ground, unshrunk it and entered.

"Can I come?" Natasha asked suddenly as Harry was just about to disappear with two of the tomes.

"Sure, you can come with one of those books but just make sure you don't touch anything once inside." He said and disappeared. Natasha peeped into the trunk and could see the start of stairs but they disappeared in the shadows. She looked at Nym who had was watching her in interest.

"Are you coming?" the phoenix shook its head and Natasha shrugged. She picked the one heavy tome and carried it into the trunk. She descended the stairs for what felt like a minute and then they abruptly cut off. She yelped as she fell on a very soft surface and _bounced_ a few times. She stood up and blinked when she realized that the surface was a wooded floor. She had just bounced on a _wooded floor_.

She wasn't even surprised to find herself in a huge room full of bookshelves and what seemed to be hundreds of books.

"Lift the book."

"What?"

"Lift the book up and it will go back to its place." She did as she was told and the book floated from her hands. She followed it to the back until it settled on top of the bookshelf. Natasha shook her head. Even after everything she had seen she was still amazed at what magic could do. She realized that she had been out of character the moment she entered Harry's room but who could blame her, this was magic they were talking about.

"How did you get all these books?"

"Centuries of collecting by mostly my ancestors. My family is a result of three Ancient powerful lines that went many years back and they wrote, collected, looted and confiscated all these as time went on." Harry explained as he looked around the library.

"And you brought all these…I was under the impression that you had no intention of coming here."

"I entered the portal with the hope that I would be taken somewhere away from my home universe, and I ended up here." Harry said as he went to climb the ladder which had appeared where they had arrived from. "There was a possibility of dying so I made copies of all the books and left the originals with my family and came with the copies."

"Your family?"

"Yes." Harry answered simply and Natasha realized that it wasn't a very nice topic and changed it immediately.

"So… what will you be doing for the next two weeks?"

"Building myself a home." Harry answered and started clearing the room. "By the way who is captain America?"

"He was a super soldier created by an experiment serum that gave him peak human strength, speed, durability, agility, reflexes, senses and mental processing. He was created to aid US' government efforts in world war II. He sacrificed his life to save the entirety of New York and he is the most respected super hero." Natasha explained with a frown. "Why do you ask?"

"Nothing, he seems like an interesting character, so is he dead?"

"His body was found by SHIELD." Natasha said and Harry realized that she was doing a Dumbledore. Give half-truths and let them come to their own conclusions. The fact that she didn't say he was dead told Harry that he was alive, probably in a comma somewhere in one of their secret facilities.

"What about Thor?" Harry asked and Natasha stiffened.

"Are you reading my mind?"

"What…no, why would you say that?"

"Because Thor's identity is classified information. While the world knows of what happened in New Mexico, his real identity is known by very few people and you wouldn't know his name unless you have read my mind." She looked more confused than upset.

"First of all, I didn't read your mind. It is something which reminds me of my headmaster and most hated Professor. Secondly I need eye contact to read your memories and unless you are actively thinking of something, I will not catch it without eye contact and that is when I am focusing on it." Harry said. "And Thor in my home universe was some prince from a magical community in space called Asgard who wielded a hammer that could shoot lightning."

"So you know about Asgard?" Natasha asked curiously and Harry was relieved that she didn't ask how his explanation was related to him knowing about Thor in the first place despite his lack of knowledge about New Mexico. "This guy claimed he was from there but couldn't carry the hammer until the fight."

"In my Universe, Asgard was extinct, they were just legends despite being immortal so there isn't much I know about them."

Natasha was quiet as she regarded Harry.

"What will you be doing for the next two weeks?'

"Build myself a home."

"Oh, and where is that?"

"Somewhere in Wales, maybe I will take you there when I am finished."

"I see." Natasha said as she prepared to leave. She walked to the door and paused. "How much do you want me to tell Fury."

Harry just shrugged. "It is up to you, I am not your boss so decide what you want to share, not that many will believe you either, especially Robin hood."

Natasha smiled. "You know Clint is very protective of his toys. Anyway, thank you for everything, it was quite fun."

"Yeah, mostly when you went slack-jawed." Harry agreed with a straight face and Natasha laughed but paused again.

"Hey, Harry, can you teleport other people with you?"

"Sure, you want a ride?" Natasha nodded. "Unfortunately, I am incapable of teleporting right now, maybe Nym wouldn't mind giving you a ride."

"She can teleport?" Natasha asked in disbelief and Harry grinned.

"She is a _phoenix_ , of course she can teleport. Who do you think delivered the note…" Natasha opened and closed her mouth a few times before she just shook her head. Harry looked at Nym inquiringly and the phoenix gave what passed as a shrug and flew to a bemused Natasha. She landed on the woman's shoulder and they disappeared in a flash of lightning.

Harry looked at the now empty table only to find Natasha's mirror. "Well, either she forgot it or she wants to experiment. So Nym, are you as hungry as I am?" the phoenix the phoenix that had just returned nodded vigorously and Harry called for Triki.

"Master called Triki." The elf stated breathlessly

"Did I now?"

"Yes, master called Triki."

"Well Triki, I hope I am not interrupting you. But me and my beautiful companion are in desperate of a meal and after that, we shall be joining you." Triki snapped his fingers and the food appeared in front of Harry and the Phoenix. Harry thanked him and he left.

Thirty minutes later, wizard and phoenix appeared in a flash of lighting on the grounds of Potter's Cove. Harry saw that Triki had picked the western part of the grounds for the house which was overlooking a cliff. There were only trees for a long distance down the cliff which went until it met with the waters of the Irish Sea in the distance. It left enough distance between where the house was to stand and the forest which covered the northern and eastern part of the grounds. The temporary wards he had set up when he had first visited covered a great deal of the forests but didn't reach the sea and he would keep them at that distance when he set up the permanent wards.

The land between where the ten elves were digging the place for the basement and the nearest trees was enough for whatever projects he was to come up with in the future. The only standing room from the now demolished castle was about a dozen meters from the hole where various animated instruments were working under the supervision of ten house elves. The mountain of stones and blocks was near the forest on the southern side of the grounds and the five remaining elves including Triki were working there.

Harry realized that he was going to have to keep the old room or at least reconstruct it as it was the one where the Dragonstone that was to anchor the wards was sitting. That was the place where the ley lines joined and therefore the best place to feed off _both_ ley lines instead of only one. Nym flew off his shoulder to go and visit the forest and have a look at what creatures existed there. As much as Harry wanted to join his avian companion, he decided to start working on how to enchant the training room in the basement to be able to work the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts.

He went to the room which possessed the salvaged items from Penrhyn Castle and retrieved his Library trunk from his Mokeskin pouch and sank into his library. The Peverells were master enchanters. While it wasn't known in the Wizarding world, Harry was aware that the idea of invisibility cloaks was started by the Three Peverell brothers as they tried to mimic the one that had been given to them by Death. the idea of the Room of Requirements was adopted by the Hogwarts founders from one such room at Peverell Manor. Rowena Ravenclaw had been Ignotus Peverell's apprentice after both of his brothers had died and the lonely wizard seeing the prodigy that Rowena was had taken her in as an apprentice.

Most of what the respected female founder was remembered for had been learnt from Ignotus before the man had died. Rowena, wishing to continue to spread the legacy had joined the Norse warrior Godric who had left his people at Asgard and come to mingle with the mortals. The two set to build a castle where they would begin spreading knowledge to the younger generation of wizards who were being hunted by mundanes. The duo had come to Scotland where they found a rich and powerful wizard who owned land that was strategically located for what they had in mind. Salazar Slytherin, a studious man on his own allowed them to build their school on the condition that he is allowed to teach his own chosen art.

They built the castle but most if not all the enchantments were made by Rowena using knowledge got from Ignotus. He had written books as well as Rowena herself and when she died, the magic recognised the apprentice-master relationship and most of her possessions in relation to that bond were sent to the Master's vault. These, Harry had found when he claimed the lordship and therefore knowledge of the Room of Requirements, the enchanted ceiling, stairs, suits of armor, portraits and all sorts of enchantments at Hogwarts that were recorded by Rowena were now in Harry's library.

With that in mind, Harry strolled through the shelves until he reached the part of enchanting. He pulled two Tomes written by Rowena herself and sat down to read. For the next four hours, Harry read, made some notes, stretched, read, continued making notes and read some more. Due to his mastery in occulmency, he didn't need to dwell too much on something as he could easily sink into his mind and retrieve whatever memory he wanted to examine. He continued to read until he felt he had a good grasp of where to begin. The training room and the teleporting room would need to be capable of expanding and with the way he planned to build the house, that particular enchantment would be easy.

The teleportation room which he planned to put on the ground floor just next to the dining room was to be able to change depending on the person's intentions. If the person who has arrived either by teleporting or port-key has any intention of harming Harry or any residents of the house, they would be stunned, restrained and kept like that until Harry feels that they are safe. If the visitor had no harmful intent, it would change into some kind of waiting room and the room would keep the person busy until someone came to get them.

He continued reading until he was interrupted by the arrival of Nym. She chirped a couple of times while sharing with him images of what she had seen and the conversation she had with some snake that she wanted Harry to meet.

"It would seem like you had quite the adventure." He smiled at her while he scratched her neck making her trill serenely. "I would also be very willing to meet your new friend though I will not be venturing into the forest without my magic. If he can't wait for two more days when I get back my magic, then you can bring him to my room and we shall talk."

Harry looked at the phoenix when he got no reply only to see its eyes closed. He immediately stopped scratching its neck and its electric-blue eyes glared at him. "Are even listening to me?"

She gave him a glare which he could practically hear shouting…." _of I am listening idiot."_

He chuckled and closed the book he had been reading. He raised it above his head and the magic of the library recognised his intention and the book went flying back to its place. "Well Nyphie, I believe we should check on Triki and his friends. The phoenix gripped his shoulder and they flashed out of the trunk and appeared in the room above. He shrunk the trunk and put it back in the Mokeskin pouch and looked around. It was dark outside, and raining too. The elves were all outside working on the stone blocks with a translucent dome shaped shield covering them from the rain. He assumed that they had finished with the hole for the foundation and basement of the house.

He thought of calling Triki to thank them but figured he would do that tomorrow. Since he had no magic, Harry had no way of seeing the time and he was feeling real sleepy. He just sent feelings of appreciation through the bond he shared with the house elves and called for Nym. She flashed them from there to his hotel room in London just as a giant flash of lightning streaked across the sky. They found a plate of food and a bowl of apples on the table in the living room and sending another mental thank you as he was sure nobody could have entered the room without his permission other than Triki or one of the other eves. After eating, he checked on the wall clock to see that it was just after midnight and he showered swiftly and was asleep in a few minutes.

Harry slowly opened his eyes and blinked. It was evening and he was standing just next to the Black lake, the Black Lake at Hogwarts. He slowly turned as he looked at the magnificent castle as started feeling excited when he realized what was happening. He was doing that universe-traveling thing he had done five days ago when he eavesdropped on the conversation between Daphne and his kids. Since they were at Hogwarts, it meant that he was probably going to meet them here. And speaking of his kids…

"Mia, what the hell are you doing here?" he heard Hadrian's voice and turned to look at his son who was frowning at his twin sister.

"I could ask you the same…" the girl retorted. He hair was flowing around her in the soft breeze and it was disorganized like she had been sleeping. She was dressed in her school shirt and skirt but wearing sandals and no tie, just like his brother. "You shouldn't be here because this is supposed to be my dream."

"Your dream…? I was being awarded an order of merlin for saving you from Malfoy and the giant squid who had kidnapped you and planned to feed you to the Thestrals and the next thing I know I am standing here.?"

Mia frowned in a manner that reminded Harry of Daphne. "Your dreams are… very entertaining Harry. Any other horrors you have dreamt of that I am involved in?"

"Well, there is that time when you had decided to marry a half giant claiming all humans are pitiful and weak." Hadrian said while imitating his sister's voice at the end. Harry snickered at the look of horror on his daughter's face. "Then you and Ludo Bagman…"

"Stop…. Please, just stop." Mia pleaded. "I don't think I am still interested in knowing whatever goes on in that sick head of yours.

Hadrian just grinned at her. "So, what were you dreaming about before you encroached on my moment of glory?"

"I didn't encroach… oh whatever, and I don't see how my dream is any of our business."

"I told you mine."

"You did…I never asked you to."

"Hey that unfair you snake."

"Really, is that supposed to be an insult."

"Yes."

"Then you tell that to that ugly pet of yours."

"Hey don't you insult Ryan…he is much beautiful than you could ever hope to be."

Harry snickered again as the two started arguing. His snickering was suddenly cut short when two identical spells headed his way and he ducked out of reflex and could feel the hair on the back of his neck rise at the power of the two spells. He looked up to see the two siblings looking at him with identical emotionless green eyes. They were standing next to each other in a stance that enabled both of them to fight next to each other very well without being separated.

"Who the hell are you?" Hadrian asked, his voice cold as steel, all traces of humor nowhere to be seen.

"You…you can see me?

That was not the answer the twins were interested in and he had to dive when two spells, one heading for his head the other his midsection came streaking towards him.

"Wait…please don't shoot, let me explain. I don't mean any harm; I am as surprised as you are to be here." Harry answered real fast trying to placate the two.

"Who are you?" Hadrian growled again.

"I am Harry. Harry Potter, your Dad I think and I have absolutely no idea how I ended up in your dreams because I was having one of my own." The twins paused as they seemed to look at him for the first time and then simultaneously, they raised their wands again.

"Our dad is dead…and were he alive, he would be much older than you are." Hadrian who seemed to be the spokesperson of the duo spoke again.

"I am not dead, I went through a portal and lived like we had expected." Harry could see that they didn't believe him. "Listen, why don't you ask me something that only your father knows."

They were quiet and seemed to be having some sort of conversation though their eyes and wands were still trained on him.

"What is mom's Animagus form?"

Harry considered the question for a moment before he decided to answer.

"Your mother's form was put under the Fidelius charm and I was made the secret keeper. That is a family secret and only those in the inner circle of the New Marauders were let in on the secret. Before I prove to you prove to you my identity, how strong is your occulmency?"

The twins frowned at the unexpected question. "I don't see what our occulmency has anything to do with this."

"Tell me, what would happen if it got out that you are somehow communicating with someone who went through the Veil of death and should by all intents be dead?" their eyes widened as they realized what he was talking about. "I see you now understand, so how strong?"

"We can keep out any attack long enough for the other to come and help repel the intruder if one of us can't handle him." Hadrian said as they slowly lowered their wands. It seemed they had decided to trust him.

"What do you mean by the other helping?"

"Like all magical twins, we have a mental connection but because we are so powerful, one of us can dip into the other's mind of they are not actively trying to prevent them." Mia explained as she glared at Hadrian he grinned unrepentantly. "So if we met a very powerful Leglimens, Harry can come and help me repel him."

"Wow." Harry exclaimed. "That is so awesome, you guys are amazing."

"Yeah, it is until this idiot decides to steal my homework knowledge from my mind." She said and swatted her brother on the head.

"Hey, keep your paws to yourself will you." He watched them as they continued bantering for a few seconds. He opened his arms and they both gave him a tight hug.

Harry smiled at them. "I am actually surprised you believed me that easily."

"To be honest, we could feel a slight connection with you. We were trying to be vigilant." Hadrian said.

"Not to mention we really wanted to know mom's form." Mia continued. "She showed it to us once but we couldn't even recognise it."

"The animagus form of Daphne Ophelia Greengrass is a ghost." Harry stated and the twins' eyes widened almost comically. "I am sure you understand why we kept it secret. It would attract a lot of attention and not necessarily the one we wanted."

"Now a lot of the stories she told us about the war make sense all of a sudden." Mia said and her brother nodded in agreement. "So, what how is this possible…I mean you visiting us from wherever you are?"

"I am not sure myself. Last time I didn't have a body that is why I was surprised when you guys could see me." Harry answered as he sat down with the twins seating on either side of him.

"You have visited before?"

"Yeah, I thing five days ago, the day you went to Hogwarts."

"It has been two months since we came here Dad. Tomorrow is Halloween." Mia said and Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Then it means that time moves differently in our universes."

"Is that why you look younger?" Hadrian quirked an eyebrow identical to Harry's.

"Not really. I spent ten years of my life with Luna. It was actually a few minutes but when I came out from wherever we were, it had been ten years in the outside world." Harry explained and seeing the looks of confusion, he just shook his head. "Don't bother figuring it out, I gave up long time ago. Now I have a chance to meet my kids and I want to know you."

The twins brightened up at that and simultaneously launched into an explanation of their lives or at least as much as they remembered. After sometime, they got into an understanding and started retelling the stories together while coordinating in their minds so that everyone tells an equal share. They told him about their mother, how they have tried to hook her up with Fletcher, the pranks, Mia's haughtiness –Hadrian-, Hadrian's idiocy –Mia- and their time at Hogwarts. Harry simply listened, laughing, grunting, frowning and grinning at the appropriate moment as he enjoyed the company of his children. He realized just how much alike they were despite what they portrayed. They had a streak of mischievousness that would have made Sirius proud.

For what felt like hours, they chatted and Harry broke up a couple of fights as Hadrian made it a point to irritate his sister who used a sharp tongue she inherited from Daphne with a good deal of sarcasm to irritate her brother. They all thought alike and worked together for the most part despite being in different houses with Hadrian being Gryffindor and Mia being a Snake- an insult according to Hadrian despite him having a pet snake. They were both parselmouths and despite having an idea about a few of the…pleasurable uses of the skill, they had never been given the talk and Harry wondered what Daphne was playing at. The trio of Potters talked, laughed argued played until they were tired and slowly drifted off to sleep with the two leaning on either side of their father.

In the depths of the Sanctum in New York, the Orb of Agamotto glowed as it picked up on the presence of a very powerful magic user who had stepped on earth. Five minutes later, it went back to normal as the magic user in question left the planet.

In the Dark dimension, usually known as limbo, two girls were attempting to escape from the leader of said dimension. They didn't get very far but their attempts caused a distress signal to be sent throughout the universe. A signal that was promptly ignored by whoever felt it as no one, demon or human dared to interfere with whatever went on in that dimension. It would be a week later that the Sorcerer Supreme would recognise it for what it was.

-ANLANLANLANLANL-

AN: Not much in the development of the plot but things will be picking up next chapter. Harry gets his magic back with a few upgrades, builds his home, meets Strange...and maybe some action.


	6. Chapter 6

**A NEW LIFE**

 _Disclaimer: Yeah, I am not J.K Rowling and I own Harry Potter…not. I have no idea who owns the Marvelverse but I'll be sure to ask around when I get the chance._

-ANLANLANLANL-

 **Chapter 6**

Harry slowly opened his eyes and blinked a couple of times. He remembered his dimensional trip and his talk with his kids and a huge smile stretched on his lips. He glanced at Nym who was as usual resting on his head rest. He was just about to get out of bed when he felt something was different, like he had been reunited with something he had been missing for the whole of his life. He frowned at Nym who was studying him with her beautiful electric-blue eyes.

 _You got your magic back, moron._

Nym didn't sound very excited with the idea.

Wait, what.

"Did… did you just talk in my head… wait MAGIC." Harry exclaimed in excitement. He jumped off the bed as he realized what had felt different when he woke up. He summoned Nym from the bed with a flick of his wrist and the beautiful phoenix squawked in irritation. She raised her wing to cuff him on the head and Harry teleported to the living room. Half a second later, Nym appeared right on top of his head setting his hair on fire. Harry simply waved his hand and the fire was extinguished and the hair went back to normal.

Harry was laughing and jumped out of the way leaving his irritated companion to fall on the ground. He giggled as she squawked again. He raised both his hands and let his magic flow through the room and laughed as everything in the room started floating. The T.V on the wall flared to life for a few seconds before it let out a puff of smoke and was quiet. All electronics in the room got fried and that snapped him out of his excitement. He panicked for a few moments expecting the Hotel management to enter any second but then he remembered the notice-me-not he put on the whole floor.

He took a deep breath to let his excitement settle down. That is when he saw Nym perched on the now useless T.V.

"Hey, you're ok?" he asked as he approached his companion. Nym didn't look to be ok. He formerly pure-white were now looking like they were just painted white. She looked very tired and her brilliant electric blue eyes were looking like they were a thousand years old, which probably they were seeing that she was a phoenix but they were not their usual brilliant kind.

 __I am approaching my rebirth__

Harry blinked at the voice which seemed to be in his head before he remembered that it was Nym.

"Uhm, ok_ is there something I can do for you?" it wasn't like he had cared for a phoenix before as he only encountered Fawkes in his earlier life.

He received a couple of images in answer and Nym disappeared in a flash of lightning leaving a bemused Harry. He waited for a few seconds for something to happen and when she didn't appear again, he shrugged his shoulders and turned to go back to the bedroom. He paused when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck raising and magic gathering behind him. He spun about while getting into a fighting stance as the Elder wand appeared in his hand. While he was now capable of performing magic without a wand, he had not practiced with it and he was more comfortable with one in his hand.

He saw a small ring of fire in the air which seemed to be growing bigger and bigger. He frowned as he didn't recognise whatever magic this was. Xavier had mentioned other magic users in this universe during their meeting while Harry had just arrived but he had not expected to be confronted by one this soon. Then again, Natasha had told him that SHIELD wasn't the only ones who registered his arrival.

Harry slowly backed away from the growing ring and he could see some king of void in the middle, he thought he glimpsed a person the other side before his eyes widened as he realized it was a portal. As if the other person had been waiting for that, some kind of rope shot out of the portal just as Harry came to this realization and yanked him inside before he could blink. He landed on a stone floor and immediately rolled around as instincts from the war kicked in and missed another rope which landed where he had just vacated.

He fired off two stunners where the ropes had come from and dived again as a curve shaped wave of white magic headed for him from another direction. Realizing that he was fighting multiple opponents seeing that his stunners met a shield of some kind, Harry elected a dome-like which he had adopted from Voldemort and numerous spells collided with his shield. There was a pause in the attacks as it seemed his opponents had stopped to admire his shield and Harry decided to take advantage, he raised his wand and closed his eyes.

 _LUMOS MAXIMA_

The huge ball of light erupted out of his wand and there were two cries of pain. Harry activated his mage sight as he dropped his shield and fired a Stunner followed by magic ropes towards the first figure who received the two without even attempting to dodge and fell with a thump, he turned in the same movement and fired the same spells at the other figure but to his surprise, the red cloak extended and absorbed the stunner and the man flew out of the way of the ropes. It was clear the man was still disoriented from the light attack which meant it was the cloak operating on its own. Harry fired numerous spells at the man but he kept zooming out of their way.

Briefly marveling at the enchantments the red cloak seemed to have as he could see the layers of magic due to his mage sight, he moved his wand around his head about three times at a very fast speed ant-clockwise then brandished it like a whip and brought it down while pointing in the man's direction. A huge gust of wind erupted from the wand and a miniature tornado formed in the space between him and the flying man. He tried to dodge, or rather the cloak tried to dodge but he was grabbed by the tornado and started being tossed around. Harry watched in grim satisfaction as the man was tossed around like a ragdoll. He was just about to relax when some piece of cloth shot from the man's waist and yanked him into his own tornado.

He was tossed around, colliding with the other man while he held unto the Elder wand hopping to relax for second so he could dispel the tornado. Just as he thought he had relaxed he collided with the man again and the wand flew out of his hand. The impact however sent both men hurtling out of the tornado straight into the wall. Harry had a second to curse quite colorfully before he collided with the wall and his world went black.

-ANLANLANLANL-

Stephen Strange slowly opened his eyes to see that he was facing the floor. He wondered what on earth he was doing in the interrogation room and why he seemed to be lying in someone's vomit before the memory of what happened came back to him. He slowly rolled himself on his back and looked in the dark room. He muttered something under his breath and the torches flared to life bathing the room in orange light. He slowly blinked at the offending light remembering too well why his eyes were still paining.

"Luna' sagging tits, I don't want to go through that again." A voice with an English accent spoke from his right and Stephen felt his eyebrows rising at the man's rather colorful language. Stephen looked up to see their guest. He was quite young, probably in his early twenties, his hair was sticking in all directions and had an athletic build. He had a look of someone who had seen too much death and horrible things but had come out stronger.

"Hello, I am Dr. Stephen Strange." The young man regarded him for a few moments before he grinned at him.

"You should be fired from the welcoming committee of this place, Doc." The young man slowly staggered to his feet and leaned on the wall with a groan. He withdrew some kind of pouch from his belt and inserted his arm which disappeared all the way up to the shoulder. Stephen felt his eyebrows rising at sight of the obviously magical pouch which had no right to accommodate the man's hand. He withdrew two vails containing some liquid and swallowed tem one after the other while grimacing, probably from the taste.

Stephen opened his mouth to speak but the young man stopped him with a gesture from his figure and as if he was waiting for something. His face started getting red as if it was heating up and then suddenly fire shot out of his ears. Stephen was sure his eyebrows had now disappeared in his hairline but he was amazed at the difference. The young man seemed to be energized and his face which had _been_ pale was having color. He walked quite well enough and Stephen imagined it was due to the potion as he remembered they had been together in the whirlwind or whatever that had been.

"How?" was all he managed to ask and the young man looked at him.

"Magic. I thought you already knew that."

As the sorcerer supreme, he knew quite a lot about potions or magical liquids but they were mostly poisons or poison anti-dotes. He had never come across anything like that. Not to mention the type of magic the young man had used, it was different from what he and Wong used or any he had ever encountered. And speaking of Wong, Stephen glanced at his friend who seemed to be passed out if the tight green ropes around his whole body except the head were any indication.

"What did you do to my friend?" Stephen asked the young man who was looking allover his body as if making sure he wasn't missing any body parts. He looked up as if surprised that he wasn't alone then glanced at where Wong was lying.

"Oh, I had forgotten that there were two of you. But don't worry, he is just resting." The young man said and gestured at the unconscious form of Wong. The body slowly levitated and landed next to Stephen. "There…. he is all wrapped up for you. Now, would you care to tell me why you kidnapped me."

The man asked as he waved his hand and a comfortable chair appeared behind him, half a second before his behind reached it. Stephen blinked at the powerful magic. It would seem that the young man was not only powerful but also had a flair for theatrics.

"We didn't kidnap, we just wanted to ask you a few questions." Stephen wondered where his cloak had disappeared to, he hoped it was up to something as he didn't like this feeling of helplessness.

"Oh, and why didn't you just approach me instead of grabbing me by force like that?"

"It isn't what it looked like and I apologize if we were a bit forceful but we didn't mean you any harm." Stephen explained as he hoped to keep the young man talking until Wong found a way to free himself. He was currently in no position to fight with how dizzy he was feeling. "It is just that we had no idea of your abilities or intentions and didn't want to risk being attacked the moment you arrived."

The young man regarded him with his green eyes and Stephen met his gaze, not the least bit intimidated.

"Any particular reason why you kidnapped me?"

"I am the Sorcerer Supreme and responsible for defending the earth from any enemies. It is therefore my duty to know of any users of the mystic arts that happen to suddenly appear on earth and what their intentions are."

"Not doing much defending from there are you?" the young man asked in amusement.

"You are in my home, or have you forgotten." Stephen asked. "Now, are you going to tell me who you are and why you are here, or do I have to force the answers out of you?"

The young man raised an unimpressed eyebrow and shook his head. He stood and the chair disappeared just as his bottom left it. Despite not being capable of putting up much fight right now, Stephen was still in charge as the Sorcerer Supreme was supreme while at the Sanctum and if this young man didn't cooperate, he was just about to find out what the expression 'home advantage' meant.

"I have no intention of ruling or destroying the world." The young man spoke as came to squat near him. "And I don't want to fight you or anyone in this world. Just leave me alone and you will have no problems with me, attack me again and I will reply in kind."

He stood up and walked a few steps from him. "I hope we meet again, Doc. Oh, and my name is Lord Black." And with that the young man disappeared with a very loud 'crack'.

The Sorcerer Supreme blinked at the empty space. No one was able to teleport from the Sanctum and most especially this room. At least no on he had encountered before was powerful enough to tear through the wards to create a hole big enough to pass through. Well, not anymore at the least.

"Did he just rip though the wards?" the groggy voice of Wong asked beside him.

"I think he just did and good of you to finally join us. What took you so long."

"I didn't do anything. I woke up just before he left, what happened when I got knocked out?"

"Let's just say it was a… whirlwind of events and just leave it at that." Stephen answered ominously as he got to his feet. "We may need to… recuperate for some time before we confront him again."

"Are you saying he beat you… you are the Sorcerer Supreme and Master of the Mystic Arts."

"I am aware of that, though the reminder is appreciated." Stephen answered sarcastically as he limped upstairs.

"He must be very powerful to beat you. Did you use The Eye?"

"Never had the chance, and if you are so interested in gossip maybe you should get married." Stephen retorted as he reached his room and closed the door behind him. With all the action going on, he had never at any one point thought to use his most powerful weapon. Then again, he had not expected 'Lord Black' to be that skilled or that powerful. It had seemed like he was pulling the magic out of himself, like those wizards he had read about in the extremely fascinating old tomes. They had been capable of performing numerous feats even he thought impossible, only this one was much more powerful than the impression he got while reading the tomes. Not to mention the fact that this one didn't need a wand like those ones talked about.

Granted he had used one during the fight or whatever that had been back there. Everything had been going well. Well the planning had gone well, but the moment things got in motion, everything went wrong. Black was very powerful, and could either make a great ally or a very dangerous enemy. He would need to see what he could do. The little he had said had been the truth as the wards in the interrogation room would have informed him if Black had lied, at least they were meant to. Hopefully, it wasn't too late.

-ANLANLANLANL-

Harry appeared in his hotel room with an embarrassingly loud 'crack'.

"Aghhh… my fingers damitt." He screamed as he looked at his bleeding fingers, or where his fingers were supposed to be. It had been sometime since he splinched himself and he had forgotten the feeling. Apparently, the Sorcerer Supreme had some kind of wards on the room to prevent any form of magical exit and Harry had missed them. It only meant that his magic had ripped the wards apart to ensure that he apparates through. And therefore leading to him being fingerless.

" _VULNERA SANENTUR… VULNERA SANENTUR… VULNERA SANENTUR"_ he incanted as if singing and the stumps stopped bleeding, got cleaned and sealed. He was going to have to endure the pain of skelegro but since it was only the fingers, he would take only two hours at the most. Deciding to get it over with, he used his undamaged left hand and inserted it in his Mokeskin pouch. Concentrating on the skelegro potion, he felt the magic in the pouch shift as it summoned the potion in question from its respective trunk into his hand. He retrieved it along with the vail containing the foul smelling potion.

He opened the stopper wandlessly, while keeping the vail away from his nose to make sure the smoke doesn't discourage him. He grimaced and held his breath before swallowing a good amount of the foul tasting potion. No matter how many times he had used it during the war, he would never get used to the taste. He felt the familiar burning of his throat and he resisted the urge to spit it out. He bit his lip as the potion started getting to work. He staggered to his bedroom and laid down on the bed as he watched his fingers slowly starting to regrow while letting an occasional whimper.

Three hours later, the pain finally stopped and Harry waited for thirty more minutes to let his nerves and muscles get used to the feeling.

"Triki…" Harry called and the elf appeared looking distraught.

"I am sorry Master, I felt you were under attack but we couldn't reach you as something was blocking us."

"Oh, don't worry, I was fine just some little problems I can handle now that I got back my magic."

"But Triki is supposed to protect his Master." The elf argued looking ashamed. "We were not there when you needed us."

"I was perfectly safe." Harry tried to assure the distraught elf. "And for that matter I want you to promise me to never attempt to save me unless you are absolutely sure that you will not be harmed ok?"

"I am afraid I cannot do that master."

"Well if you want me to make it an order then I will." Harry said firmly. "I don't think I can live with myself if someone died because they were trying to save me when they would have been perfectly safe if they hadn't."

The image of his mother, Sirius, Ron, Dean Thomas, Dobby and even Dudley came unbidden at the forefront of his mind. While he didn't despise their sacrifice as that would be like an insult to their memory, it didn't stop him from feeling guilty about it as he knew that had each of these individuals saved themselves rather than trying to save him, then they would have been perfectly fine.

Triki looked at his feet, clearly conflicted about the choice he was being forced to make. Harry got down to his knees so he was on the same height with the elf.

"Look Triki, it's not like I don't appreciate your help. I have lost too many individuals I care about that I am not willing to lose any others if I can help it."

"Master is too kind." Said the elf now tearing up.

"I know." Harry answered as he stood up. "Now, why don't you get me something for lunch and then we can go and build ourselves a home."

Triki disappeared with a soft 'pop' and Harry went to the living room at his working table. He retrieved his Library trunk from the Mokeskin pouch and got the plans of his home. The land where he was building could accommodate about five houses of the same size as he was building with enough space between them but he had plans for all the land many of which included a big green house for his potion ingredients. While he had a collection of potions in one of the three trunks, he would need to make more in the future and he wasn't about to go searching in the forest for fresh ingredients. Not to mention the fact that you can't be Neville's best friend and not like gardening.

The food appeared and Harry dug in swiftly. He wanted to make sure that the house was ready for accommodation, fully furnished and everything operating in pristine condition. And to create goodwill between him and SHIELD, he would invite Natasha to train him from his new training room in the basement.

Thirty minutes later, Harry appeared in the clearing of his home. The house elves had outdone themselves. The foundation had been completed and was covering even more space that he had initially thought, but then again, foundations always appeared bigger than what the house would be when complete. The pile of rocks which all contained runes was near the foundation and it wouldn't be much distance between them. Harry greeted the elves and immediately got to work.

Six of the fifteen elves were tasked to work with Harry to build while the rest made sure that there were no mistakes as well as sending the materials. As he expected, all the rocks seemed to mold with each other as if it was a single rock that was being used. The work moved swiftly and once again Harry marveled at the power of magic. By the time Harry went back to London for the night, the outer walls of the basement as the walls separating the rooms had been completed. Here Harry ordered the house elves to have some rest as the next day they were to inscribe the rooms with their respective runes like in the kitchens while he went ahead with enchanting the dungeons and training room/room of requirement.

The next day started with building the ceiling of the basement as well as the floor of the ground floor. After that, they went on enchanting from the knowledge Harry had acquired in the Ravenclaw and Peverell tomes. He knew he would never be able to make it to the level of the Hogwarts ROR but maybe after years of absorbing magic, it would get to that level. At the moment, it was capable of most of the things. He also put an open link which he planned to connect to the library so that someone would be able to access books from here. It could also transform to a certain size or any shape, as well as provide almost anything. Enchanting it took two whole days though it wouldn't start functioning unless the whole house is finished and connected to the wardstone.

After the two days, it was the weekend and Harry decided to take a break and ordered the elves to do the same. He exchanged a couple of Galleons at a local bank but he knew he would have to exchange from a bigger bank to have any huge sums of money with him. After the actions of the goblins, Harry didn't plan on opening any bank accounts in the nearby future. The little buggers had joined Voldemort in the war as they had expected him to win. Luckily for the 'New Marauders', they had Luna who had advised them to withdraw their fortunes in time and the goblins had no choice. The rest of the wizarding world wasn't so lucky. Harry imagined that the surviving Marauders were currently screwing the economy back home.

His date with Karen wasn't as fun as he had expected. Karen was a beautiful girl with bright ocean blue eyes and hone blonde hair. She was fun and could talk a mile, infect she was almost an incarnation of Tonks only without the tripping part. However, Harry felt horrible during the date. It was like he was cheating on Daphne despite the fact that they had not yet gotten married and that he would be with her again. The fact that Karen's features seemed to remind him of her didn't help matters. He tried to make it fun for her though and she had just too much fun that she asked him for a repeat the next weekend.

There wasn't anything inappropriate that happened though, well except the kiss Karen managed to steal after he had escorted her back to her home. Harry had expected Vincent to show up any moment but thankfully, the guy was nowhere to be seen. The rest of the weekend, Harry spent it waiting for Nym who didn't show up. He continued researching on ways he was to trace other wizards and witches but he just couldn't find the working type of wards for that kind of thing. He even read half of Ravenclaw's tomes hoping that knowledge of the Hogwarts Book of Names would be there but by the time Monday came around, he had not found anything.

The next two weeks were full of activity, building, enchanting and inscribing runes. Natasha had called via the mirror in the first week inquiring about the progress of his work before she stopped on Tuesday of the second week. Harry didn't think much about it as he was busy with working on his home. On the weekend of the second week, the home was finally finished. He used some of the furniture from the demolished castle while getting some from the nearest town using money he got from exchanging galleons. He designed the house with similar designs as Grimmauld Palace, Slytherin green with a couple of serpents on most of doors which could be opened by a parselmouths.

Most of the designs were either in form of snakes or a phoenix, true to his plans, he put an umbrella stand in the shape of a severed troll in the entrance Hallway. He didn't have many portraits except for Bellatrix which he had found in the Black family vault and he wasn't about to hang her anywhere in his home. He decided to put her in one of the cells in the dungeons since he never got the chance to torture the real person. Her screaming was kept in the room as every door in the house had silencing runes meaning that any sound coming from the room wouldn't be heard from outside.

The muggle room was filled with magic suppressing runes all over the floor. There was absolutely no magic capable of existing in that room. Even Harry was rendered a squib while inside there. He placed there all sorts of entertainment electronics and a huge sound system. All in all, Harry was happy with the result of his work and that very weekend, he moved in having done some shopping for all sorts of requirements. Despite being alone, or rather the only human living there, the place exuded a feeling of home similar to one Harry used to get when at Grimmauld Place. His only regret was that Daphne, Mia and Hadrian would never live here.

-ANLANLANLANL-

It had been three months since Harry came to this universe and two weeks since Harry had moved in to Potter's Cove. He had tried calling Natasha almost thrice a day but the redhead had not been answering. He could feel the tracking rune pointing at some location in New York which he guessed was her apartment and he thought that she probably didn't want to talk to him for whatever reason. So he had refrained from teleporting to her in case it had something to do with SHIELD and he didn't want to compromise her job. That was not to mention the fact that he had been overlooking the planting of magical plants in his new Greenhouse which was twice the size of Hogwarts.

He had come with some seeds or plants which were mostly used for potion ingredients in his third trunk. With the help of Nym who had come back about two weeks after she disappeared, he had managed to find others in the forest and relocated them to the greenhouse. The permanent wards had been setup and nobody would ever be able to breach his lands. In fact, they were too strong that Harry believed they could survive a nuclear attack. Tracking other wizards and witches still eluded him and he hoped some children were not being killed just because of his inefficiency.

Shaking his head, Harry brought himself back to his current concern, which happened to be a certain redhead. She was supposed to have started training him two weeks ago, but he had not heard a single word from her. He was going to have to confront her and find out what he had done wrong at the very least. With his decision made, he completed his closed the book he had been reading and exited his study. He swiftly changed from his pyjamas into a pair of black jeans, white V-neck T-shirt and a black fitting leather Jacket. He had somehow managed to convince Karen to help him shop without telling her where he was moving.

Two hours after convincing her, he was regretting the decision. However, at the end of the day, he was grateful for her help as he didn't have the least idea about shopping. His wardrobe was mostly black as he had told her he preferred black clothes and she also later agreed as it brought out his features and made him look more intimidating. Harry shuddered as he remembered one person who used to wear black most of the time and almost felt sick at having something similar with that greasy git.

"Well Nym, I would like a ride if you don't mind." Harry said to the phoenix who had been watching him as he dressed up. The beautiful avian regarded him for a moment before she shook her head and tucked it under her wing to sleep. "Really, you leave me for a month and now you're no longer interested to be seen with me uh?

The phoenix ignored him.

"What, got yourself a boyfriend or something…" she untucked her head and glared him. "Er, I will be going right about now." Harry said hastily as he backed out of the room. He wasn't very interested in taking a lightning bolt to the head right now. Not when he was wearing his favorite jacket.

Harry put his hands in his pockets and whistled an unrecognizable tune while he strolled through the empty hallways. A few minutes later, he was in the teleporting room and concentrating on the location rune on Natasha's mirror, he silently disappeared. While he could teleport from anywhere since he was the controller of the wards, he felt he should lead by example, even if there was no one to lead.

Harry appeared in an empty bedroom with little light that was flitting through the curtains. He cast a notice-me-not in the room and sent a small burst of magic at the camera making it dead. He waved his hand and the curtains were pushed aside allowing more light to see clearly. The room was… normal. If it weren't for the white pyjamas on the bed, one would have thought no one stays here. The communication mirror was on a table next to the bed but other than that, the room was pretty normal showing that no body had been staying here for some time.

He walked over to the wardrobe only to see two t-shirts and two pairs of black leather trousers and a pair of knee length boots. He wondered where her other stuff was then he remembered that Natasha was a super spy and probably moved around with most of her stuff. After a few minutes of concentration, he teleported to the bridge of the Helicarrier knowing that she was probably there and if not then he could get some answers from Fury.

He arrived silently only to find pandemonium. SHIELD agents were running from one work station to another while Fury was keeping an eye, like literary one eye on his subordinates as they ran around like headless chickens. Agent Coulson was on his left while the woman he remembered only as Hill was on his right.

"Quite a busy day isn't it?" Harry spoke startling the three. They whirled around and before Harry could blink, he had six guns pointed at him. "Not the reception I had in mind but I guess it will do."

"What are you doing here Potter?" Fury growled and Harry frowned at him.

"Good to see you too Nick old boy, I see your people skills haven't improved since we last met."

"My patience is wearing Potter." Fury growled again and Harry could see that he was more stressed than he had last seen him.

"Fine… I just want to see Natasha; I have a couple of questions for her."

"Agent Romanoff isn't here, now you can go. I am in the middle of a situation and if you want to gossip may I suggest that you look for Stark."

"Where is she?"

"The whereabouts of our Agents are none of your business." Fury growled again but he lowered his guns and the other two did the same. "You should leave before I have you detained for trespassing."

"I have been trying to contact her until I found her mirror in her apartment." Harry said as if Fury had not spoken at all. "We had a deal which should have started two weeks ago."

"I said…."

"I heard you the first time, it is just that I don't plan to leave without talking to her." Harry interrupted the SHIELD director knowing exactly what he was saying. "And as I am sure you are aware; I can just read your minds without you even knowing. So it's better you tell me rather than risk me finding restricted information."

"That is restricted information." Fury said while tensing up a bit.

"Exactly. Now, where is Natasha?"

Fury looked like he was about to refuse but Coulson spoke up.

"I think we can tell him, maybe he could help us."

"Can you locate her?"

"I think I can, but I can't risk it unless I am sure I won't be attacked the moment I arrive." Harry answered with a shrug. "So what happened."

"Agents Barton and Romanoff led a group of other SHIELD agents on a mission against a HYDRA hide out three weeks ago." Fury reluctantly explained. "It has been a week since we last heard from them and the hideout they had gone to infiltrate was abandoned."

Harry waited for the man to continue but he just kept quiet. When it became clear he wasn't going to say more, he sighed. "And what makes you think these Agents of yours are still alive?"

"We have ways of monitoring our agents' health and we have only lost two out of the fifteen." Coulson said and Fury glared at him as if offended by the man's inability to horde information. "However, if we don't get to them by tomorrow, then we shall lose all of them."

"Including Natasha?"

"All of them" Coulson repeated.

Harry was quiet for a few seconds but he knew he was going to go to wherever this place was. Saving people thing and all that crap. No matter how much he wanted to stay away from SHIELD, he knew that somethings were just inevitable and Harry saving people was a constant.

"Just to be clear…" Harry started. "I am only going to save Natasha just because I want her for training and not out of the goodness of my heart. And I hope you will not be expecting me to do these rescue missions of yours in the future."

"I am afraid I can't allow you to go to the field." Fury said. "If you think you can locate Agent Romanoff, then just tell us where, and we shall send a team of trained operatives to do this mission."

"Yeah, that's not happening." Harry answered smiling at Fury. "I don't need permission from you or anyone and your _trained operatives_ can wait for you to find the location so you give them instructions. ~ _suit up~_ " he completed his statement with the perseltounge pass phrase for his armor.

Like water, the suit flowed from his family ring where it was kept and covered him from the left arm and creeped onto his body covering him from the neck to the toes. The suit was actually the skin from the basilisk he had killed in his second year. The brains of the Marauders had managed to forge the skin into a suit with numerous enchantments and runes and this was his signature during the war. The Death Eaters had come to fear the suit almost as much as the civilians feared the name Voldemort.

The suit covered his whole body up to the neck and the look was completed with an emerald green cloak, the same shade as his eyes that had almost all known enchantments in the wizarding world. The transformation took less than five seconds and Fury as well as Coulson and Hill gaped at the new Harry. The cloak was enchanted to release an aura of intimidation which always strikes fear in his enemies. While his magic did not consider the three enemies, they still felt a little bit of the change in the surrounding atmosphere. They were also, surprised to see that none of the other SHIELD workers were paying them any attention and that they couldn't bring themselves to concentrate on Harry's face.

Harry summoned Natasha's mirror into his amour covered hand and sent a pulse of magic into it. A few seconds later, the mirror disappeared.

"Well, this has been all good but I am afraid I must leave your charming company." And with that, Harry disappeared without a sound leaving the three top SHIELD officers staring at the spot he had just vacated.

"You can say all you want about Potter, but you have got to admit he has style." Coulson summarized their thoughts and Fury found himself nodding absently in agreement.

Harry teleported on the top of the huge floating ship. He had gotten a glimpse of it in Coulson's memories during his first visit but it looked even better from up here. However, he wasn't here for sightseeing, and half a minute after he arrived, his mirror started vibrating.

-ANLANLANLANL-

Natasha felt a jolt on her mind and jerked herself awake. Cursing herself for even daring to doze in this kind of situation, a situation she felt responsible for, she looked around bleary eyed and recognised the now familiar room. She was tied on a metallic chair as she had been for the last week. Her whole body was stiff and it was out of sheer will power that she was still awake. She didn't want to imagine what horrors these bastards would do to her if she lost consciousness. Her colleagues were in different rooms and it was only her and Clint who had been brought here a week ago.

She shook her head slowly to dispel the depressing thoughts and concentrated on what had jerked her awake. She almost let out a gasp as something materialized in her hand as if in answer to her thoughts. She barely stopped herself from gasping as she recognised it for what it was and immediately berated herself for never having thought about it. She had been thinking of ways of escape or ways to send a massage to SHIELD for the whole week but never at any one time did she think of Harry's communication mirror.

Looking at the five guards that had been left to guard them, she relaxed slightly as they seemed to not have seen anything. She took a shuddering breath as she tried to calm her excitement at the idea of escape and glanced at the battered form of her friend. As if sensing her gaze, he slowly opened one eye that was not swollen and she tried to communicate with her eyes. He seemed to get the massage as he gave a slight nod and closed his eyes again. Natasha couldn't blame him as she was barely keeping herself from closing her own eyes.

"Harry Potter." She spoke clearly, at least as clearly as a voice that had been screaming for the better part of the week. The guards looked at her as if she had lost her mind and one of them came near her.

"What, the famous Black Window saying her last prayers?" he asked with a thick German accent and the other four laughed. However, their laughter was interrupted by a voice.

"Hello Na…is that your butt?" Natasha almost collapsed in relief at hearing the voice.

"Give me that." The soldier demanded and grabbed the mirror from Natasha's hands.

"Whoa Nat, you didn't tell me you were going back in time." Harry exclaimed. "And now you are hanging out with apes…."

The German soldier was becoming a rather nasty shade of purple which was not helped by his rather hairy face.

"Who are you?"

"I would say I am Harry, but I am assuming that is your line." Harry answered and Natasha could feel her lips curling into a smile. "Anyway, why don't you give the lady her mirror back, you are a bit too old to be talking to a mirror."

"What kind of technology is this?" the German demanded while his fellows were looking on in confusion.

"Don't worry, I am going to introduce you to it in person." Harry answered and his face disappeared from the mirror.

The guy looked at his disfigured reflection in the small mirror and he was about to hurl it at the wall when the lights went out.

An invisible Harry appeared just behind Natasha with his wand ready to erect a shield in case he was attacked. He sent a pulse of magic all around the room and all electronics inside blacked out.

"What is happening?" the leader of the squad on guard duty asked but he was answered by a stunner and he fell down with a loud thump. The rest of the soldiers turned to the direction where the spell came from, ready to fire but their guns were ripped out of their hands and they were sent flying into the wall behind them curtsey of a wide area banishing charm. Harry didn't want to kill any of these people yet as he knew they were merely pawns doing someone's job.

He knew that back up will be coming any second now and he hoped to be long gone by then. He cast a _LUMOS_ and a ball of white light erupted from his wand illuminating the room once more. He took in Natasha's form as well as the battered body of Clint and he knew he had to get them medical attention fast. While he knew a couple of healing spells, for some reason coming here had been very magically draining and he didn't want to attempt using magic unless he was out of here.

He turned to Natasha who had lost consciousness and a with a simple _enervate_ she once again opened her eyes. Harry transfigured the ropes into grains of sand and caught her as she fell from the chair. She blinked a couple of times before Harry realized she couldn't see him.

"Oh, sorry about that…." He blushed while deactivating his invisibility and smiling sheepishly at her.

"I never thought I would ever be happy at seeing that silly grin of yours."

Harry just shook his head at her.

"Are you ok?"

"I think I will live. But we've got to move fast, Clint is in a sorry condition and I have no idea where the other Agents were kept." Natasha answered as she attempted to get up but just collapsed back in his arms.

"Hey, take it easy." Harry said as he summoned a pepper-up potion for her. "Here, this will give you some energy, hopefully it will be enough to help me locate the rest of your friends."

Swallowing the potion, Natasha felt her energy returning almost instantly and she shook her head in amazement. She rushed over to Clint but he was out of it. She jumped when there was a flash of lightning but relaxed at seeing Nym.

"Come on, let's go and find your friends, Nym will deliver him to the Helicarrier." Harry said as pulled her to her feet. She liberated the unconscious soldiers of all their weapons and limped after Harry towards the door. Harry paused as they could hear noise on the other side of the door. He gestured her to get behind him and despite her reservations, she agreed. Harry raised his wand and with a thrust, the door was sent flying from its hinges out wards into the group of soldiers waiting.

Five were killed while the others looked at the door in surprise. Harry used this to his advantage and fired a _REDUCTO_ at the ground in front of them. The ground exploded and some of them were sent flying in different directions.

The remaining ones immediately found themselves at the hot end of Natasha's gun as she shot them down at a rate Harry never thought was possible yet she didn't seem to miss. They walked forward through the mass of bodies and the occasional soldier who was unlucky enough to remain alive got a billet in between the eyes. Nothing was said as the duo moved down the corridor. Around the corner, they met about eight soldier who immediately started firing. Out of reflex, Harry elected a shield without much conscious thought while Natasha ducked, rolled on the ground and shot at them from behind Harry's shield.

"That is pretty handy" Natasha commented as she stood up while discarding the used up guns and acquiring fresh ones from her belt.

"Why thank you.? Harry gave a mock curtsey. The two descended the stairs into some dark place and Harry lit up his wand. They found a metallic door with some sort of passcode.

" _Homenum Revelio"_

"What was that?"

"A human revealing charm, and I think we found your friends." Harry said and a simple _ALAHOMORA_ had the huge door swinging open.

"Wow, you don't even need a passcode to open doors." Natasha said in awe. "It would seem there is a lot I don't know about magic."

"Indeed, but that will be for another time, let us get your friends." Harry said as he walked into the room, wand at the ready. They found the SHIED agent huddled together but they were still alive though unconscious. Harry conjured a long rope and gave on end to Natasha.

"I can't teleport everyone and for some reason, teleporting seems to take more energy than usual."

"Could it be because of this base being under water?"

"Probably, just tie every one's hand with the rope and we get out of here. I don't want to fight any more of those soldiers." Harry said as he started doing the same.

"Not a fan of fighting, are you?"

"No, it's just that those soldiers are just doing what they believe is their job. They are merely pawns and I rather go for the queen and King." He finished and tapped the rope which glowed blue before turning back to normal. "Now, brace yourself, this may be a bit… unpleasant."

With that very helpful warning, Harry activated the portkey. Natasha felt a hook at her navel and she was jerked forward and then spun about for what felt like eternity before she landed on her but with a huge pile of bodies on top of her. She looked up to see Harry standing away from the group smirking at her.

"Smile all the way you want Harry dear, your training begins in three days." The smirk disappeared immediately and Natasha smirked back at him even as she felt the effects of the potion wearing off and slowly consciousness left her."

-ANLANLANLANL-

AN: Sorry for the delay my readers but I had taken a break though I assure you that I am now back with weekly updates. I thank all the reviews, both positive and negative. By the way I am still looking for a beta, so anyone interested, please PM me.

On an entirely different note, I am not sure of the time setting for AVENGERS 1 so unless I find out otherwise, I will set it for 2011 and the events will begin next chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

**A NEW LIFE**

 **Chapter 7**

 _Disclaimer: I am not J.K Rowling, she is awesome and owns Harry Potter, I do not own the Marvelverse either, despite just how much I wish I did._

-ANLANLANLANL-

Six weeks later, Harry was not smiling as he dodged, deflected and blocked Natasha's attacks. The woman was ruthless and extremely fast. It had not taken three days for Harry's training to start like Natasha had been expecting. It took a whole week for her to regain consciousness and two other weeks for her to be discharged before she was allowed to leave the medical bay. Another week was spent getting herself back in shape but Harry liked to believe that she had been devising ways on how to inflict the most pain on his innocent self.

He ducked again to dodge another blow which was headed straight for his throat and had to change course to avoid the knee which seemed to have been magically pulled by his forehead with how fast it rose. If Harry didn't know better, he would have though he was sparring against a certain Indian god with multiple libs as every direction he went he would find another fist or kick headed for him.

He was slowly edging towards a wall and he knew that it was only a matter of time before he landed on his _again._ He kept on the defensive as he hoped for a chance to turn the tables on her while the rate at which she was attacking seemed to increase. When he saw her left open as he blocked a very powerful right, his hand shot out like a snake for a particular point at her shoulder where he knew would slow her down a bit.

However, as if anticipating his move, she leaned backwards and Harry's jab met empty space. He knew he was in trouble before he could even withdraw his arm and sure enough, he received a punch right in the face breaking his nose _again_ before the would be offending arm was grabbed and he was launched over her shoulder, flying across the room and landing on his ass for the eighth time that day.

"Ouch, do you really have to be so rough on me?" Harry complained with a groan as he fixed his nose with a wave of his hand.

"Don't be such a baby Harry." She smirked at him. "It's not like you can't patch yourself up in no time."

Harry pouted.

"Hey, you should be proud of yourself. Not many can last fifteen seconds without a hit when I am putting my all."

Harry didn't feel very proud despite knowing the truth in her words. Harry knew just how deadly the ex-Russian spy was. There was a reason why she was one of SHIELD's most valuable agents as well as most skilled assassin and the fact that he could go toe to toe with her for fifteen seconds without getting his ass handed to him showed just how far he had come.

The Black Widow was agile, extremely so and way much stronger than she had any right to be. Luckily for Harry, he had magic and while he was completely forbidden from using any sort of magic during training, his body had been boosted through rituals and was stronger and more agile than your average person. He was more attuned to the environment and even more so in areas with magic. The room of requirement was one such room which allowed him to keep up with the 26year old Russian.

"You know, with how far you have come…" Natasha said as she took a seat that appeared behind her. "…. you are way much better than most of SHIELD's regular agents."

"I am no regular person. I think I should feel insulted that you would compare me to Robinhood." Harry sniffed as he got back to his feet.

"I can assure you Clint is no ordinary agent." Natasha answered with a chuckle. "In fact I should organize a spar between you two and maybe he will blow off some of the anger he has against you."

"I will not have that… Green Arrow anywhere near my home." Harry stated vehemently "and it's not my fault that he couldn't stand being saved."

"Clint is a proud man." Natasha said. "He just feels ashamed that it was _you_ who saved him. Then again you seem to enjoy rubbing it in."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Harry said with a sigh and Natasha raised an eyebrow.

"I am sensing a story here."

"I knew someone… he wasn't the best guy out there but he was the butt of many pranks." Harry explained softly. "he hated my father and they often had many disagreements. So, at one time, this guy's life is in danger and my father ends up saving him."

"Oh, that isn't… so bad."

"Not if your worst enemy is the one saving you then keeps rubbing it in, in front of the girl you love."

Natasha nodded in understanding.

"I just realized I was doing exactly that." Harry replied grimly.

"I will not claim to understand exactly what your father's situation was but I know Clint and he is just being stubborn." Natasha stated firmly. "Maybe you rubbing it in isn't good but you have nothing to worry about, now are you ready for your next beating?"

"Oh, you know just how to cheer me up." Harry coed but immediately had to dive on the ground to avoid the round-house kick signifying that it was time for business. The moment he reached the ground he swept his leg and caught Natasha off-guard and swept her left leg while her right was still in the air making her land on her butt.

He had less than a second to savor his victory before the pounced on him like an irate tiger. Using her momentum, he used his knees and flipped her up but rather than landing on her back like he had expected, she linked their legs and brought him with her, she didn't waste time and had him in a full-nelson before he could comprehend his position.

"I yield…I yield, damn woman."

Natasha released him and they separated as both got back their breaths. This time he was the one who attacked with a spinning kick with his right knowing that he was leaving left open and sure enough, his beautiful partner went for it, he flipped over her using the momentum created by the energy he had put in his kick and landed just as she recovered from her failed attack, she came back with a flurry of punches that would have overwhelmed any other person but Harry deflected them quite easily, however, this had been a distraction and when she was near enough, she kicked rather too hard in Harry's opinion on his right sheen making him go to one knee with a grunt of pain. She went to take advantage with a swift kick to the face but he grabbed her leg and using considerable energy flung her across the room while twisting her ankle.

She landed rather ungracefully and cried out in pain. Harry's moment of victory was cut off as he limped towards where she was lying. He should have expected it but he didn't, the moment he reached her and tried to put an arm on her, she grabbed him and caught him in an arm-bar making him parrot her earlier cry and with a great deal of embarrassment in a similar voice.

"That was mean Natasha." Harry complained again when she released him.

"Oh quit complaining already, it doesn't suit you at all." Natasha scolded as she grabbed a glass of orange juice that had just appeared on a table. "I so love magic."

"The habit of manipulating my weakness towards your extremely sexy body is getting out of hand and you've got to stop it." Harry said as he reached for the other glass only for Natasha to grab it and gulp it down. "This is exactly what I am talking about."

Natasha didn't answer him and just sauntered out of the room making sure she swayed her round ass. She winked at him before she exited through the door and Harry groaned.

"In my defense…" Harry stated to the empty room. "… I am absolutely aware that she is trying to kill me and I won't be surprised if I woke up with a knife in my throat.

-ANLANLANLANL-

After eating lunch, the two headed to the Muggle room for movie. The weather outside was starting to change as they approached the end of October.

"Hey, I am going to halt our training for some time." Natasha said as she took a seat on the couch.

"Why, I thought we were going to start weapons training."

"We were, but another mission has come up and I won't be available for an unidentified period of time."

"Going to infiltrate another HYDRA base?" Harry asked and Natasha shook her head.

"No, we shall not be doing any of those any time soon. Fury decided that such missions have become too dangerous for the average agent."

"I hope he is not deluding himself that I will join those."

Fury had taken an unhealthy interest in Harry after his little rescue mission and had increased his efforts in trying to recruit him for SHIELD despite his making it absolutely clear that he was not interested.

"He has probably thought about it." Natasha said with a chuckle. "Anyway, I am going to help someone get used to the new word."

"I assume you are talking about Captain America?"

"I am not even surprised you know; anyway, the guy woke up yesterday after taking a nap for seventy years. The rest is classified information but I am sure you get the gist of the matter."

Harry nodded. He didn't want to get himself involved in anything concerning SHIELD more than he was already.

"Just don't get yourself killed. I wouldn't want to look for you on the other side to beat you up. And trust me I would find you."

"I am sure." She rolled her eyes. "So, what were you planning on doing while I'm away."

"Actually, I was working on a way to track others like me before our training started."

"Oh, I was under the impression that you hadn't found anyone that is why you settled here."

"Yeah, well my presence here has…" Harry hummed as he tried to find a better way to explain. "Initially, there wasn't but my coming here has caused the creation of others like me, mostly children and in two years, there should be a few wizards and witches running around here."

"Really, will they be capable of doing everything you are capable of?" Natasha asked in excitement and Harry nodded.

"Yep, and I will be the one to teach them."

"Oh, this is going to be fun." Natasha declared. "I mean the idea of you in a class is just hilarious."

"Actually I've taught before." Harry said defensively.

"Have you now?"

"Yeah, during the war against Tom, I led a bunch of teenagers who only knew how to stun and shield. So it was up to me to teach them how to fight and I can proudly say I did a very good job."

"You keep talking about this Tom character but you never go into details." Natasha asked as her interrogation instincts took over.

"It's just that the war has so many painful memories that I try to avoid them as much as possible."

Natasha nodded in understanding. She was no stranger to losing loved ones and the Black Widow persona helped to keep her from getting attached to people too much. Unlike other people, she never got to enjoy what living with one's parents felt like before she was drafted into the Red Room.

Her Comm beeped and after a brief conversation, she stood up.

"Well, I've got to go, I guess I will see you around."

"Yeah, just don't forget your mirror this time."

"I won't." she gave him a hug and Nym who had been watching the T.V from her parch swooped down and grabbed her shoulders. "Don't forget to have fun while I'm gone."

With a flash of lightning, the two disappeared leaving Harry alone. Harry didn't have any hopes of having fun. Halloween was Friday next week and he knew that this time wouldn't be any different from the previous years. He had lost many loved ones on this particular day that he just wished it could be rubbed off the calendar. For some reason, Voldemort seemed to have a Halloween fetish and had made sure that Harry lost someone close to him on that day almost every year.

The image of the disfigured body of Sirius came unbidden to his mind. After the death of his godfather in 2000, Harry had started working on his animagus training as a tribute to the original Marauders. He had finished it in record time and he had never felt closer to his dad and godfather. Giving one last glance at the T.V with the news showing a battle between the "Hulk" and "Abomination", Harry transformed into his animagus form in a blink of an eye and dived through the window.

-ANLANLANLANL-

Harry woke up in a foul mood. Today was Halloween and he had a bad feeling in his stomach which didn't help his mood at all. He ate very little breakfast before he adorned his armor and went to destroy the training room in the hopes of getting rid of the feeling but it clung to him like a wet blanket. He tried to read in the library hoping that maybe he would get a clue on how to track other wizards and witches but he still came up blank.

That was when he remembered something. The Sorcerer Supreme had somehow managed to locate him; he knew that he could never be located while under his wards by magic but last time he had been at the London hotel. His wand appeared in a flash in his hand and using the point me spell, it spun about for a couple of times before it settled in one direction.

With a thought, the flight enchantments of his basilisk skin armor were activated and he shot towards the direction like a bullet, his deep emerald cloak billowing behind him in the wind. He enjoyed the feeling of wind as he flew across the ocean towards New York. The suit or armor was a work of art. Numerous individuals had put a lot of their efforts in creating it as well as the cloak.

After about thirty minutes of flying, Harry arrived in New York, Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village. His wand had stopped tracking the man some time back and Harry assumed that he had gone under some wards. He had probably just been lucky to catch him out when he used the point me spell.

Activating his invisibility, Harry spread his magic senses and almost immediately found the house he was looking for, it looked pretty ordinary and fit in very well with those surrounding it. If it wasn't for Harry's senses, he wouldn't have noticed it either but he couldn't help but marvel at the wards. He had found he loved working with wards and could see that a great deal of work was taken in creating them. Surprisingly, there didn't seem to be any Norse wards yet the existing ones seemed pretty ancient.

Harry assumed it had something to do with the existence of Asgard in this universe and since they never got extinct, which meant their knowledge wasn't released to the rest of the world since they were quite selfish with their knowledge, even worse than Goblins. Harry would have enjoyed taking his time dismantling the wards but he didn't want to be here more than necessary and if he was looking for peace, he doubted he would achieve by destroying the man's wards.

Still invisible, Harry sent a small pulse of magic on the outer wards that would inform whoever controlled them that someone was asking for entrance. Harry waited for a few seconds but he wasn't granted entry. He was about to send a stronger pulse when the door opened and an Asian looking bald man cautiously stuck his head out. He looked around in confusion and was about to go back when Harry dropped his invisibility.

"Hello, Wong." Harry greeted making the man jump. "I see you are quite in good shape."

The Asian immediately took a defensive stance.

"What do you want?"

"I come in peace, I just want to talk." Harry raised his hands in a sign of peace. "And I suggest that we take this inside, we are attracting attention."

They were indeed drawing attention and Harry heard a few people commenting on his 'Halloween costume.'

Wong looked like he was about to argue when a deep voice from inside the house told him to let Harry inside. Harry followed Wong inside and on his way he passed a number of artifacts that seemed to radiate magic. He saw a rather large and scary cauldron thing just as they entered the house. He came near to examine it but he was interrupted by a voice.

"The Cauldron of Cosmos." Stephen Strange said as he appeared on top of the stairs. "That is one of the most powerful scrying artifacts and can swallow you if it doesn't take a liking to you."

Harry immediately backed off the bowl like thing and turned to look at the man. He had a good look at the Sorcerer Supreme for the first time and was struck by the similarity of their respective cloaks. They were near identical in shape except for the colors. The man was tall, almost as tall as Harry but he was sure he had a few inches on him. He stood with confidence which seemed to be amplified by the mustache.

Harry silently followed the Sorcerer Supreme into some kind of drawing room.

"You are a hard man to find Lord Back. Or should I say Harry Potter?"

"No, Lord Black will do." Harry answered as looked around the room. It had various artifacts which all seemed to contain magic.

"Lord Black it is then." Strange agreed. "Why don't you take a seat so we get to business." He said as gestured at the chair behind Harry.

Harry waved his hand over the chair transfiguring it into something more comfortable and throne-like. When he sat down he was looking down at Strange who was now sipping tea from a set Harry had not seen before.

"I would like to begin by apologizing for what happened at our last meeting." Stephen said. "I hope I am not too late but I am willing to offer something in apology."

Harry raised an eyebrow. Halloween was supposed to be a day of suffering for him and not luck like he was facing right now.

"Actually, there is a reason why I came here." He started carefully. "I am aware that you have noticed that we use different forms of magic."

"Yes, I assumed it was because you are a wizard."

"You know about wizards?" Harry was surprised. Luna had been clear that all knowledge of existence of wizards was obliviated from all those aware of it.

"Not much actually, I may have come across a few texts talking about individuals who used magic from inside themselves and focused it through their wands." Stephen explained. "One of my predecessors seemed to believe they existed at one point but somehow got extinct as well as that kind of magic."

Harry nodded knowing that if there had been such a record then there was no way it would have been destroyed.

"I am indeed a wizard but I come from another Universe." Harry decided to trust this guy as his gut was practically screaming ally. "For some reason I ended up here and I would like to find a way of tracing others like me."

"So there are others like you?"

"Not at the moment, but I believe with time, they will be and I want to be ready to find and teach them how to harness their magic."

"Are you implying that these individuals are born with the capability of using magic?" there was disbelief mixed with wonder in Stephen's voice.

"Yes Doctor. A wizard or witch is born with a magical core which keeps growing as they grow up." Harry explained. "For some time now, there hasn't been a wizard or witch for more than five hundred years but my presence has been like the missing ingredient in the creation of one."

The Sorcerer Supreme was quiet as he considered this kind of information.

"I may have a few artifacts that help me to locate magic users but that is only if the person uses magic at the moment and I am assuming wizards need to be taught to use magic at all." He finished inquiringly while looking at Harry.

"Actually, there bouts of accidental magic as the child grows but they are very hard to track." Harry pondered. "Maybe, if I can get to understand how some of these artifacts of yours work, then I can build my own?"

"Does that mean my apology is accepted, because I am still waiting for the answer."

"All in good time Doc, all in good time." Harry said as he stood up. "Why don't we start over then…"

"Doctor Stephen Strange." Stephen said as he offered his hand.

"Well, Mr. Strange_"

"Doctor." Stephen corrected out of reflex.

"Mr. Doctor_"

"Strange. Doctor Stephen Strange."

"Of, course Mr. Doctor Strange." Harry smiled mischievously as he shook the older man's hand. "I am Lord Harry Potter-Black."

"You, Mr. Lord Potter-Black are an idiot."

Harry laughed and was joined by Strange. Something told him he was going to enjoy this strange man's company. And the pun was most definitely intended.

Their laughter was interrupted by a loud whistle and Harry felt a feeling of dread drop in his stomach like a rock.

"Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me." He groaned as he followed the Sorcerer Supreme. He watched in fascination as the red cloak floated out of nowhere and wrapped itself around Stephen's shoulders without any conscious thought from the man himself.

He followed, easily falling in line with the man's strides. Stephen crossed his hands and they started glowing orange while Harry's wand appeared in his hand.

"What is going on?" Wong asked as he arrived through a portal, similar to one Harry was kidnapped through.

"No idea, it's what we are trying to find out." Stephen ground out as they reached a room on the ground floor with a swirling black cloud. Wong paused at the door to stare at Harry who had slipped in along with Strange and was standing next to him near the cloud.

"What is he_" Wong's question was interrupted by an explosion from the black cloud and a blinding flash of bright white light. He was blasted through the door and hit the wall across. He blinked a couple of times as he shook the stars before his eyes. When he managed to get back his eyesight, he staggered to the room only it was empty. Neither Lord Black nor Stephen was there.

-ANLANLANLANL-

Meanwhile in Canada, Alkali Lake, a very powerful entity opens its eyes. It could feel the consciousness of its host trying to free herself but she was too weak, pathetic, a shame. It watched the waters of the lake where its host had sacrificed herself to protect her loved ones. _Love_. A pathetic chemical reaction that humans tended to cling onto yet dragged them down denying them the chance to reach their full potential.

The entity could feel one like itself in Scotland who had sullied itself by becoming a guardian. However, it could never fight her with fear of destroying the host this particular entity was possessing. The entity felt a human presence. He was distressed, tormented, blaming himself for what had happened, an easy prey for its attack. The entity had never liked him. He was weak, pathetic and tried to lord over its host despite knowing that its host was capable of destroying him with a mere thought.

"Je…Jean?" the idiot stammered. The entity could feel the rollercoaster of emotions from the young human. "How… I…I thought you were dead?"

The entity turned around and beckoned the stupid human into its arms. He came, drawn by her beauty and what he thought was love in her eyes.

"Scott…" she coed softly and he came nearer, held her face and brought his unworthy lips to hers. The moment his lips met hers, she could feel the consciousness of her host fighting with renewed vigor knowing what she was going to do. Apparently _love_ seemed to give humans more belief and a will to fight even harder. Too bad it wouldn't be enough this time.

The entity could feel the bindings weakening, Jean Grey fighting hard to prevent what was inevitable but it was too late. The entity released a concentrated psychic attack which vaporized the idiot completely only leaving the fool's glasses. Jean took the chance to grab control of her body but she was too weak to do anything and promptly passed out.

-ANLANLANLANL-

"Oh what happened this time?" Harry groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. He felt something tugging at his arm and he looked to see Strange's cloak. There was some light but it was pretty dim, like when the sun is just rising. He looked at the cloak which seemed to increase on its insistence. He looked where the cloak seemed to be gesturing and saw Stephen's unconscious form.

"Hey, Doc…. Hey… _ENERVATE._ " Stephen woke with a gasp.

"What happened?" he asked with a gasp.

"No idea, are you ok?"

"I think I am ok, though my leg hurts, I think I was bitten by something." He pulled his pants up to reveal a wound which clearly looked like something had bitten him.

Harry drew his wand and waved it over his leg.

"Shit, it's poisoned and its moving really fast." He looked at the man and could see that he was sweating despite the cold wind and was so pale he could make a vampire self-conscious.

Harry grabbed his Mokeskin pouch and put his hand. He concentrated on a Bezoar. He retrieved his hand holding a small box which contained the stones in question. He got one and put it in Stephen's mouth.

"Here swallow this, it will get rid of the poison." Harry ordered as he shoved the smooth stone into the man's mouth who was beginning to shake as if having a seizure.

Stephen complied and swallowed the magical stone and a few seconds later, the shaking gradually stopped and he started gaining color. He passed out Harry once again drew his wand. He was about to cast a spell when the cloak which had been hovering there in concern grabbed his hand.

"Easy, I am just making sure all the poison has disappeared." The cloak released him and Harry cast the spell, releasing a breath when he couldn't detect even the slightest evidence of poison in the older man's system. "Where the hell are we?"

-ANLANLANLANL-

Illyana Rasputin waited in her room impatiently. She had known this had been a bad idea but it was like something else had been in control of her mind. Despite how much she had wanted to tell her best friend that this was bad, she had agreed. Even knowing that the odds were against them, they had stormed the Citadel with the hope of killing Belasco. Once the evil tyrant was dead, Illyana would become the ruler of Limbo since the other demons recognised her and thus would be free to visit her parents and brother back on earth.

At least that had been the plan. But now, her friend Cat had been transformed into some sort of feline demonic creature and couldn't even recognise her. She had been spared simply because Belasco needed her to create the bloodstones and suspected with a shiver of disgust that the demon loved her. It was all she could do not to vomit everything she had in her stomach.

She knew that the demon was going to be even more strict on her than before and will be using her position as his apprentice to ensure that he creates the rest of the bloodstones needed to open the gateway for the Elder gods. The opening of her door brought her out of her musings and one of Belasco's minions entered.

"The master desires your presence my Lady." The demon growled and Illyana raised an eyebrow at the 'my lady' part. It would seem that Belasco was up to no good once again.

She silently followed the demon while slowly massaging the magic suppressing bracelet on her arm. Only Belasco or someone more powerful could remove it. She had no hope of meeting anyone more powerful any time soon, even Storm while extremely powerful in her own right had not been able usurp the apprenticeship from Belasco. She walked the hallways of Belasco's palace as several demons looked at her with undisguised hunger but they could not do anything to her fearing the wrath of Belasco.

Then again, even with her magic suppressing bracelet, she could handle them well enough without fighting with magic. She reached the throne and glared at the Demon king. She could see that something was bothering him. While the rest of his minions couldn't see the difference in his facade, Illyana could see the traces of confusion and worry.

"My most beautiful apprentice." Belasco said in a way of greeting making her skin crawl in disgust. "How was your rest?"

"It was fine until you called for me." She spat back at him. She could see that S'ym, Belasco's top general wanted to say something but he was interrupted by Belasco.

"Well my apologies then." He said sarcastically. "Now, just how many others are you willing to sacrifice so that you may leave?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me kid." Belasco snarled. "You summoned two other magic users into Limbo didn't you?"

Illyana was quiet as she considered this. She silently tapped her magic suppressing bracelet and Belasco seemed to just remember that it was there. She could imagine the different ways she wanted to destroy him, rip him bit by beat and the burn the pieces with hell fire.

"I see. So if it wasn't you then who was it." He questioned somehow still with the belief that she was responsible. "As far as I am aware, you are the only one capable of doing that."

"How should I know." She shrugged and turned to leave. Belasco didn't stop her, he just watched her till she walked out of the room. After she got out, aware that she couldn't hear anything, the demon king turned to S'ym.

"Are you absolutely sure about their identities?"

"Yes, one is the Sorcerer Supreme and the other is a wizard." S'ym growled back.

"A wizard, I thought those were killed off long ago."

"Yes but apparently one still lives."

"Don't concern yourselves with him, our problem is the Sorcerer Supreme." Belasco growled. "He has no nerve to come here willingly as he would be leaving earth unprotected. If we can keep him trapped here long enough then taking over earth would have been made easier."

-ANLANLANLANL-

"Ok let me get this straight. We are in some kind of Limbo and not one were disembodied spirits go, but a dark dimension ruled by a demon King so powerful and ruthless that no one has ever attempted to come here willingly?"

"That pretty much sums it up." Stephen replied calmly.

"Wonderful." Harry declared. "Absolutely Fanta-fucking-stick. Please tell me you at least have an idea how we got here."

"Actually, I was under the impression this was your doing until you asked me about where we are."

Harry conjured a pillow and hit himself in the face numerous times.

"Now what?"

"Now…" Stephen said as he stood up. "…now we find Belasco, kill him or convince him to drop the wards so we can go home. I imagine he will be sending his demons at us the moment he recognizes me."

"Longtime friends?" Harry asked as he stood up as well.

"Let's just say I have a reputation and leave it at that." Stephen said as he summoned Dragonfang.

"What's with the sword?"

"Most of the demons are resistant to most magic and this blade is very much capable of destroying them."

Harry promptly summoned the sword of Gryffindor. Strange gave it one glance and continued to walk forward, heading to what they believed was Belasco's palace. They had moved for less than five minutes before a group of six vicious demons came flying towards them. Harry and Stephen stood back to back, as the six demons landed surrounding them.

"I will take to the air; you handle the ground." Harry said as the Sword of Gryffindor started glowing. The enchantments on the sword made it capable of being used as a focus.

"You can fly?" Stephen asked in disbelief.

"What, of course I can fly, just because I don't have a fancy cloak doesn't mean you are better than me."

"Is that jealousy I sense in your tone?" Strange asked as the demons edged closer, adrenaline beginning to spread in both sorcerers' bodies.

"You bet your mustache it is. NOW." Harry slashed his sword and an arc of pure magic burst out of his sword and cut one demon clean in half. Another tried to lea at them but Harry shot off the ground and slashed at it at what was supposed to be a torso spraying black blood everywhere. The demon fell down and attempted to get up but the basilisk venom made short work of its system. Harry sent an exploding curse straight at its mouth which was wide open in a silent scream and put it out of its misery.

Just as the exploding curse left his sword, he shot up and missed the demon that had been trying to creep on him. He turned and fired a blasting hex at its face which sent it towards the ground. Harry shot after and drove the sword of Gryffindor straight through its skull and the venom frying the brain immediately.

Stephen hadn't wasted any time, the moment Harry barked 'NOW', he shot Dragonfang at the nearest demon like a spear and the sword embedded itself in the startled Demon's chest. The demon disintegrated upon contact but Stephen didn't watch any of that. He conjured a shield to block the swipe from a clawed hand while summoning Dragonfang. The demon prepared for another strike but before he could even stretch his hand, he got the magical blade in the torso and disintegrated.

Strange flew under the third demon's armpit and before it could turn back, he flew up and cleanly cut off its head. It fell as if in slow motion as its head fell down with a thump. He turned around to help Harry only to see him summon his sword from the demon's skull. The fight had taken less done half a minute.

"Are you telling me that, your cloak is merely similar to mine in appearance?"

"I imagine there are certain enchantments they have in common, but mine isn't sentient." Harry replied as he cleaned off the blood from his suit with a wave of his hand.

"I imagine we have caught Belasco's attention; we should move faster." Stephen pointed out and they started moving. "I was wondering; how did whatever bit me back there just leave without biting you."

"I imagine it was some sort of serpent." Harry shrugged. "Let's just say I have a reputation with serpents and leave it at that."

"Fair enough." Strange agreed with a smile.

The duo continued and they were attacked by many other groups of a dozen demons at some point but they were dealt with swiftly. Harry realized that while the demon's skins were resistant to spells, over powered spells could harm them as well as pure magic which Strange had trouble gathering but it was a piece of cake for Harry. An aura of depression started creeping on them the nearer they came to the palace.

They reached a point where Stephen started considering giving up and trying another approach and that was when Harry decided to do something about it. He had imagined it was some kind of ward which he would just dismantle when he reached it but when the feeling just kept increasing, Harry drew his wand.

" _ **EXPECTO PATRONUM"**_ He incanted and watched in fascination as what he recognised as a Thestral burst out of his wand. The skeletal creature flew around for a few rounds before it came and stood next to them.

"Wow!" Stephen breathed as he ran his hands on its back. "I can even touch it, and the happiness, wow. Why didn't you do this at the start?"

"I thought the feeling would go away at some point." Harry answered with a shrug. "Anyway, I put enough magic in the spell for it to stay around for about two hours. I hope by then we would be out of this place."

Stephen nodded as they continued walking while glancing at Harry and then the Patronus in awe. The two sorcerers continued walking until they reached near the wards protecting the palace. They could see an army of demons the other side patrolling the palace but Belasco was nowhere to be seen.

"It would seem; Belasco has not considered us a threat at all." Stephen observed. When he got no answer, he glanced at his companion whose eyes when closed. As if feeling his gaze, Harry's eyes snapped open and Stephen jumped at the glowing orbs of green light instead of the eyes he had been expecting.

"Then let us give him something to worry about." Harry growled in a voice that would have made Batman proud before he slammed his glowing hands on the ground. Golems shaped like humans started raising from the ground and congregated around them. They were very many and Stephen imagined they were not less than fifty. They were very tall, almost two times the height of your average human.

Harry lifted his hands panting a little and then slammed them again but this time against each other and a wave of magic swept across the gathering of golems and they started transforming into steel right before their eyes. All of them.

Stephen watching in fascination and a little amount of fear. He knew he could have done something similar with the right spells but not on this scale and most definitely in such a short time. Harry staggered a little and Stephen caught him.

"You are ok?"

"Yeah, am fine, I just haven't used that much magic in a long time. Just join me up as I gain back my breath. I am sure now we have got Belasco's attention."

Strange looked back at the castle and could see the demons running and flying around in a frenzy. He floated up towards where Harry was waiting with his sword.

"After the golems destroy the wards, we shall attack from the air and they will make quick work of those on the ground." Harry said. And the steel golems started advancing on the wards. He pulled a white square stone from his pocket and dropped a few drops of blood on it then tossed it on the ground. The moment it reached the ground, it formed a visible dome of magic surrounding the wards before it disappeared as well as the stone itself.

"What was that?" Strange asked curiously.

"Just to make sure that our host doesn't escape through any magical means, well other than flying which will be quite painful."

-ANLANLANLANL-

Illyana watched the proceedings in her room. At first she had been with Belasco in the throne room as they watched the two battle the demons on their way to the castle. It was clear they were quite powerful and determined as they ripped apart one group of demon guards after another and with such precision that they couldn't wake up again. She had seen Belasco getting upset by the minute while muttering impossible over and over.

She watched the wizard as Belasco had called him cast whatever magic that had been to nullify the effects of the depressing effect near the castle. When they reached the wards however, she knew that without inside assistance, they would never be able to get in. she had started thinking of ways of letting them in through the wards, consequences be dammed but then the wizard had done something even Belasco was capable of.

He seemed to know that attacking the wards with magic would destroy him and he decided to drain them with those humanoid things. And boy, were they doing a job.

Illyana thought it couldn't get any better, but Belasco having realized what was happening ordered some minions to kill the wizard. However, any demon which tried to fly towards the two attacks met some barrier and was fried to death. At this point she was sure of her escape. Whether the two Sorcerers managed to beat Belasco or not, she was getting out of here the first chance she got and she was leaving with S'ym's head.

Something exploded bringing her out of her plans and the rather creative ways she had for destroying S'ym. She looked up to see Belasco holding the fancy looking throne-like chair with as trying to strangle it, his claws embedded completely in the wood. A lot of things were shaking and his general was trying to calm him. She looked up to see what had caused such an open display of emotion and breathed in sharply. The suits –or whatever the humanoid things attacking the wards are called- seemed to be reforming just after they were destroyed.

The wards themselves were barely holding up and she knew that they would be collapsing any moment now. She wished she could just get a sword and shove it in Belasco's non-beating heart and end all this but her relationship as an apprentice couldn't allow it. However, what almost made her jump in excitement like the fourteen-year-old she happened to be was the person who was floating next to the two men outside the wards as well as the winged feline creature hoovering next to them.

-ANLANLANLANL-

"Is the intensity of the burn increasing?"

"Yep. The ward is powered by magical blood and the more blood spilled with the area covered by the ward, the stronger the ward becomes." Harry explained to his counterpart with a grin.

"While I am sure I can make it better, I am going to have a long talk with you concerning wards." Stephen stated in a tone that brooked no argument. "And I mean the moment we leave this place."

Harry gave him a bow of acknowledgment which looked quite comical given that they were hovering in the air.

"How much time till the party begins?" a soft, slightly familiar voice to Harry said from behind them and they whirled around, spells at the ready only to see a beautiful woman with white hair levitating next to them.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my most favorite mutant." Harry drawled despite knowing that she was different from who he knew.

"You know her?"

"You know me?"

"Yep." Harry said, popping the P at the end. "At least another version of you."

"You have interacted with mutants before, I wasn't aware?" Stephen asked in surprise.

"We met a few hours ago Doc." Harry pointed out and the Sorcerer nodded as if he had just realized that. "And I've only met two mutants. One was a bald man in a wheelchair who tried to read my mind and the other was an extremely beautiful dark-skinned goddess who wanted to fry me after the professor tried to read my mind."

"I imagine the mind reading part didn't go well?"

"Oh you bet your mustache it did." Harry answered with a grin.

"With the way you keep talking about my mustache I'm beginning to think you are jealous, _again._ "

"Me, jealous, pffft." Harry answered looking offended at the very idea. "The last man I knew with that sort of mustache wanted to fuck a girl half his age. A girl called Nymphadora."

The other two looked at him blankly for a few minutes before the woman spoke up.

"Anyway, I am a version of the… goddess you met. Kind of a long story but I have two friends in there I want to get."

"Friends?" the two sorcerers asked at the same before they both exchanged exasperated looks blaming the other for coping.

"Yeah one is a girl called Illyana the other is… coming?" Storm trailed off as one curious looking demon flew right through Harry's wards heading for them.

"That is your friend?" asked Stephen.

"Yeah, I think she is, I swear I am going to fry that good for nothing son-of a bitch."

"Language goddess." Harry scolded the woman who glared at him so hard he felt his eyebrows heating up.

The feline-like creature joined them as Harry's golems continued draining the wards. There was a loud ringing sound and Harry summoned the sword of Gryffindor while creating a fireball in his left hand.

"Alright folks, time to sharpen your claws as shit is about to hit the fan."

"Language idiot." Stephen scolded with a frown as he summoned Dragonfang while gathering a ball of explosive magic in the other hand.

"Hey, you need some help with the shape of your form?" Harry asked the feline demon and it shook its head. "Good, then let's get out of this place."

As if that was what they had been waiting for, the wards let out an ear splitting sound and they died. Harry launched his fire ball and it exploded midflight setting three demons on fire which died before they could reach the ground.

" _ **EXPECTO PATRONUM**_ **"** the Patronus leaped from the sword and Harry flew right behind it. It would fly right through the demons leaving them disoriented only for Harry to slice them with an extremely sharp goblin forged magical blade, with basilisk venom. It was a massacre. Adrenaline pumping through his system as he dodged, sliced, blasted and stabbed demons from all directions. One demon managed to grab him as he sliced another and flung him to the ground.

He was so surprised that he didn't reactivate the flying enchantments and before he reached the ground, the winged feline grabbed him and settled him on the ground. He immediately started stabbing and slicing any of the demons who didn't have wings and were fighting with the Golems. His magic was on high alert, his senses hyper as they helped him know where to dodge or stab. That was why he was able to feel the faint beat of familiar magic. Magic in a core though restricted like in some kind of block. Magic like his own. He had found a wizard and she or he was inside the castle.

-ANLANLANLANL-

AN: Well folks, that is chapter 7 for you. Some guest reviewer pointed out that Harry was an arrogant prick and while I didn't want him to be a Malfoy, I intended to show him as slightly arrogant. Think of him as Doctor Strange or Tony Stark without the smarts.

The other thing is about the X-men. With Illyana coming in, you expect the mutants to show up and I have also pushed the events of _X-men The Last Stand_ to 2011 to best suit my needs. Remember folks, this is fanfiction, we can't follow everything as it is in canon now can we?

Anyway, I need a Beta please, and keep reading and review, till next time.


	8. Chapter 8

**A NEW LIFE**

 **Chapter 8**

 _Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all associated characters belong to J.K Rowling and I am not the one who owns the awesome Marvelverse._

AN: Just to be clear, it has been seven months since Illyana was taken by Belasco's minions and Seven years in Limbo. So she is actually fourteen.

-ANLANLANLANL-

 _ **Friday 31**_ _ **st**_ _ **October 2011**_

 **Earth**

Nym snapped out of her very comfortable position on one of the perches in Harry's study. Harry had put five perches in every room throughout the house and she could never be any prouder of her companion. However, the awesome perches had nothing to do with how tensed she was feeling. Another of her kind was active on earth, _her_ domain. And not the good one either, but one who despised her with all her immortal existence.

Nym could feel that the host had taken control of the body at this point but it wouldn't take much effort for the invader to take over again and Luna knows –ok maybe Harry wasn't a good influence on her- what the invader would do while in control of the human girl's body. But that was not much of a concern. At least not yet. Harry would deal with the invader when she found him.

And that was the problem. She couldn't find him which meant he had travelled to a different dimension. While phoenixes were powerful entities, they just couldn't travel through dimensions unless they are summoned. For the sneaky ones, they could take over a host but they would never be free.

Now Nym was stuck, her Harry had disappeared into some other dimension and she knew he needed her. She could feel the level of darkness surrounding him but he seemed to have forgotten about her, or perhaps he was just stubbornly ignoring to call her. She disappeared in a flash of lightning and appeared to her Harry's last position on earth only to find another man in those funny clothes just like in Harry's memories.

"Whoa, where did you come from?" Wong asked the majestic bird which was standing where Stephen and Lord Black had disappeared just a few seconds ago but he was ignored.

Nym could feel the traces of ancient magic, magic even more ancient than her own. She could have sworn she heard a girl giggling. Giggling that sounded very similar to the Luna girl Harry is always cursing about.

-ANLANLANLANL-

 _ **LIMBO**_

Illyana felt the wards snap and the backlash slammed Belasco into his throne from his position knocking him out. She felt the magic of the bracelet on her arm shift as part of her magic leaked through. It wasn't enough for her to do much but Storm had taught her to manipulate her own magic so that it can leak and merge with the surrounding magic. It had been quite the surprise when they found out that she actually had magic with in her body.

After numerous hours of meditation, they had found what they assumed was the origin of this magic but it was covered by a huge shadow that seemed to prevent it from coming through altogether. However, it seemed to strain and the little that was leaking through had been enough for Storm. She had taught her how to take advantage of that little and Belasco never suspected anything.

Therefore, when the wards snapped, she had enough magic to cause some chaos. She summoned a teleportation disc and sent S'ym outside the dome the wizard had created. She knew it would take the demon general some time to come back and hopefully, Belasco will be dead by then. S'ym was a very dangerous opponent and she planned to kill him before going back to earth but demon general derived most of his powers in the presence of the king of Limbo.

Fighting Belasco and S'ym at the same time was suicide, and the wizard no matter how powerful he was proving to be would be fighting a losing battle. A torch in the corner of the room flared, setting the nearest demon on fire who was ignored due to the pandemonium caused by Belasco's collapse and S'ym's disappearance. She willed her magic into two swords and leaped on one demon's neck plunging both of them into the demon's thick neck.

The demon tried to dislodge her but she jumped off landing with a cat-like grace, got in its face and summoned the two swords which cut off the demon's head as they materialized in her hands. She dodged the claws from one demon and slashed another demon's tail and the fight continued. She knew she wouldn't last long in this fight, and it was only a matter of time before Belasco woke up and put a stop to her little work out. But until then, she was going to kill as many of them as possible.

-ANLANLANLANL-

Doctor Stephen Strange dodged one rather vicious looking demon. He spun around and sent a bust of wind at the demon which sent it flying into Harry's ward frying it within seconds. He saw another more powerful looking demon lurking just outside Harry's bubble and he recognised it as Belasco's second in command. He didn't have time to exchange any pleasantries with the angry looking S'ym as he was grabbed by another demon but before he could do anything, the demon was blasted from him and it also got a couple of moments with electricity.

He turned and gave a grateful smile at Storm but she was already engaged in a fight with two other demons. Strange then came to a scary conclusion. These demons were too many and yet they were few and while the attacking trio was powerful, they were not going to win as Belasco hadn't showed his face. By the time they were done killing all these demons, they would be in no condition to fight and win against Belasco. Something needed to be done and fast as he also remembered that earth was unprotected at this moment.

"Any plans for the weekend Doc?" Harry asked as he flew towards him while killing two demons almost simultaneously with his sword.

"Not really, you?" he slashed Dragonfang and obliterated two demons that had been creeping on him.

"Actually, I have a date with a certain blonde." Harry answered as he hurled his blade at a demon behind Strange while Strange did the same with Dragonfang at the one behind Harry. "I am not sure I will still be interested when we are done here."

"Are you thinking what I am thinking?" Strange summoned Dragonfang and flew out of the way of the swipe of one demon and into the slash of another demon's axe. Before it could cut him in half, he felt a jerk and was pulled out of its way. He didn't waste time and shoved his sword in the demon's back.

"Careful there Doc, am not sure what I would tell Wong if I took you back in pieces." Harry barked as he banished the slain demon's axe into the back of another. "However, if you are thinking that we need to take out Belasco as soon as possible, then yes."

"Good, while I had no plans for the weekend, I had plans for today and this is becoming monotonous."

While they were doing a number on the demons, there were still too many of them. Any explosion from inside the castle caught their attention.

"Hey, goddess." Harry called out to Storm. "You think that is your friend in there?"

"Probably. Illyana has got a mean streak and has got quite a temper."

Another explosion rocked the castle and Harry shared a glance with Strange. The sorcerer supreme nodded and Harry activated his invisibility.

"Where did he go?" Storm asked as she continued to rain balls of lightning at the demons.

"To help your friend and deal with Belasco."

"He can't handle that monster alone. We need to help him."

"Then let's finish off these minions of his." Stephen said and closed his eyes. The Eye of Agamotto started glowing. A wave of green energy exploded from the orb in the necklace and destroyed about ten demons in front of Strange. The moved his hand in an intricate pattern and about a dozen demons seemed to age within seconds and turned into dust. There was a lull in the fight as if time itself had stopped as the demons considered the Sorcerer Supreme.

"Why didn't you do that from the beginning?" Storm asked in wonder.

"It wasn't necessary and I would rather not use it but we have limited options here."

"You are really strange." Storm deadpanned.

"Doctor Strange to be precise."

-ANLANLANLANL-

An invisible Harry flew through the hallways of Belasco's citadel, following the location of the magical core like a beacon of sorts. He killed every demon he found in his way as he felt the magical core getting nearer. He then reached what could be considered a courtyard. He landed and he could see about twenty vicious looking demons gathered in different positions watching the entrance hungrily. An occasional growl would escape and he could see that they were barely restraining themselves from joining the fight outside.

He could also see other decimated bodies of about a dozen demons lying on the ground. Looking at the head of the room, he laid his first look at Belasco. He was pretty scary; blood red eyes were watching the entrance as if looking at him despite being invisible. His skin was scaly, and his face was very ugly and that wasn't helped by the greasy hair and beard or the horns. He was also huge and tall. Almost as tall as Hagrid and his arms and legs were practically bugging with muscles. His spiked tail folded between his legs. Harry had a flash of a memory about some bloke called Lucifer or something.

This would have been very impressive and all if only the Demon king was having a nose. Instead of where the nose was supposed to be was a mound of scaly flesh and then one huge hole at the end. This brought Harry a feeling of nostalgia and his lips slowly curled into a smile. He was encased in some kind of protection bubble and next to him was a girl of about fourteen who was tied by glowing ropes and Harry could feel her magical core straining against whatever block it was covered with.

He glanced at the dark sky that could be seen from here and his smile became shark like. The demons were highly resistant to magic, but who said they couldn't be fried by let's say… a highly charged bolt of lightning. Still invisible, Harry let his magic merge with the very atmosphere. The environment was polluted by dark magic and tried to resist but his will was stronger and he was too powerful. Despite all the magic he had been performing since he arrived here in limbo, he hadn't even felt a dent in his magic.

Unbeknownst to him, Limbo had a very close connection to Death and as Death's master, he was drawing magic right from the powerful entity and refilling his magical core almost instantly. Under normal circumstances, Harry would have been feeling the strain on his magic and at this point would have needed at least an hour of rest or at least a dose of Pepper-up potion to continue.

As his magic merged with the magic in the air, Dark clouds started gathering in the already dark sky. There were flashes of lightning across the sky as the nimbus clouds became thicker and thicker. Elemental magic was something Harry had found to be easy for him, it had been one of the defining elements of the Potter family. Grindewald specifically had gotten more than a few demonstrations for what elemental magic was capable of from Charlus Potter.

Wind started whipping around the courtyard as the clouds seemed to drop from the sky. Harry fired a stunner at the bubble surrounding Belasco and the girl he assumed was Illyana and nodded in satisfaction as the spell bounced off the shield. Knowing that his attack wouldn't hurt the teenage witch, Harry let the flood gates open. Literary.

For the first time in only Merlin knew how long, it rained in Limbo or rather over the courtyard of Belasco's Citadel. Ice-cold raid started falling on the demons. Those who tried to fly easily found their wings getting punctured by the high velocity raindrops. When Harry felt that there was enough water on the ground, he released the lightning. There were cries or more accurately howls of pain as demons were fried by the miniature lightning storm. The smell of burnt flesh permeated the area and Harry was forced to use a bubble-head charm.

The demons kept disappearing and within a minute, not a single one of the Demon guards was still standing. Harry stopped his lightning storm and dropped his invisibility only to receive a blast of magic in his face. Out of reflex, he cast a shield but it wasn't strong enough to stop the attack. The magic reaped through the shield like it was paper and slammed him against the wall.

Harry could feel his ears ringing but he had no time as he teleported to another part of the courtyard to avoid another blast of magic. The magic slammed where he had been and destroyed the wall and ground leaving a small crater. His wand had disappeared at the first attack and Harry's world was spinning. Another attack slammed into him but this was slightly less powerful than the first one though it could have ripped anyone apart and Harry was lucky it wasn't directed at his head.

His basilisk skin armor took the brunt of the attack but it was still painful and he was lifted and flung at a stone wall destroying it. He could feel a couple of ribs breaking and his skull cracking where he collided with the stone wall. He could feel his magic already getting to work repairing the damage faster than it usually did but he knew that if he didn't retaliate soon he would be experiencing his first death in this universe soon. The thought seemed to jolt his brain into action and he focused magic into his eyes which had not yet recovered from the first attack.

His vision immediately became clear and he could feel the demon King preparing himself for another attack. Harry felt his ribs snap back in place as the repair was finished. He summoned his wand and channeled as much magic as he could into the wand.

" _ **DELIBERABUNDUS PROTEGO"**_ Harry shouted just as the attack left Belasco's hands. There was a loud gong like sound as the magic collided with Harry's white reflecting shield and bounced back at the surprised demon with twice the power he had put in it. Belasco was lifted from his feet and launched across the courtyard into the stone wall destroying it.

" _ **SECTUMSEMPRA"**_ Harry shouted as he slashed his wand at the Demon king. He watched in satisfaction as several deep slashes appeared in the serpentine skin of Belasco and to his delight, the skin didn't heal like it had already been doing from the wounds he had got from his collision with the wall. At least not as fast.

Harry flew in air as Belasco let out a guttural howl of pain. He released a calculated bolt of lightning straight at Belasco's eye and the demon howled again. Harry tried a follow up attack but Belasco erected a shield which sent the bolt right back at Harry. He dodged it only to see the one eyed demon flying towards him. Harry teleported to the ground and as Belasco came towards him, Harry flicked his wand and an iron spike rose out of the ground meeting the demon king midair and imbedded itself in Belasco's torso making him fall with the spear protruding. Belasco ripped the spear from his torso and hurled it at Harry.

It came at him at a speed it had no right to and as Harry tried to fly out of its way it caught his cloak and pinned him at the wall. Belasco, wounds still dripping with dark acidic blood leaped towards him but Harry sent him flying back with a blasting curse in the face. Harry vanished the spike and let lose another _SECTUMSEMPRA_ just as Belasco got to his feet this time concentrating the attack at Belasco's tail.

The demon king howled in pain as his tail was cleaved off. A giant fist raised from the ground and punched his head which sent him flying. Belasco rolled on the ground and leaped at Harry again but another giant fist caught one of his wings and brought him crashing on the ground. Harry waved his wand in an intricate pattern and the floor started turning into magma. Belasco destroyed the fist with a burst of magic and sent another wave at Harry, Harry could feel his body getting exhausted but he wasn't going to stop this fight until the demon was dead.

He pumped magic into his body to ensure that he doesn't get sluggish as despite losing his missing tail and a great amount of blood if what was coming out of him could be called blood, Belasco was still pretty strong. The rain continued, lightning flashed but Belasco just shrugged it off like it was nothing. Harry looked around but the girl was nowhere to be seen so he decided that it was time to up this game even more. A good sized part of the floor had turned into molten lava and Harry knew that it was about time he ended this fight.

Harry dodged a fireball from Belasco and almost ran into another. He waved his wand and dispelled it. The fireballs started coming at a faster rate and Harry was forced to cast a shield. Belasco took advantage of this and Harry felt the huge frame of the Demon king slam into him and they both fell on the ground. Belasco raised his hand to crush Harry but Harry slid out of the way between the taller Demon's legs while summoning Gryffindor's sword. He shoved the sword where Belasco's tail had been and the demon howled in pain from the basilisk venom.

Harry knew that one single stab wouldn't be enough to kill the demon king and was about to stab it again but Belasco back handed him and he flew in the air. He twisted in motion, his training with Natasha kicking in and he landed in a crouch. Belasco barreled into him as he tried to knock him over again but he laid back on his back and using his momentum, he used his knees and a bit of magic to flip the huge demon over his head while shoving the sword where he assumed was the position for Belasco's heart.

Magic and adrenaline filling his veins, he was already in motion as Belasco landed. He flew in the air, slashed at the demon king's neck just as he was about to get back on his feet. The basilisk venom was beginning to slow him down and Harry wasn't about to reduce on his assault. Harry landed with a roll and sent two _SECTUMSEMPRA_ at Belasco's back which made the demon cry out again. A blasting curse sent his opponent flying and he landed in a small pool of water. Harry immediately sent an overcharged lightning bolt and the smell of burnt flesh once again filled the almost completely destroyed courtyard.

Red hot chains burst out of the pool of magma in the center of the courtyard and grabbed Belasco's limbs. His wings, hands and legs started burning the moment the chains wrapped around them and the now weak demon king howled out in pain while trying to resist the pull. Harry shot more of Snape's severing curse at very high speeds at the dying demon king weakening him even further while the chains continued to pull him towards the molten pool of magma.

Knowing his end was approaching, Belasco gathered all his remaining magic, cutting off his connection to Illyana as master as well as ruler of Limbo. All ties that were taking his power were cut off and once he had collected all his magic, he used it in a last attempt to save his life as he was very sure that he would die unless he did something. So he teleported out of there and let his magic guide him to wherever he would be safe from the wizard, ripping through Harry's ward and destroying it.

-ANLANLANLANL-

Illyana wrapped around one demon and ripped off its head before moving on to another. She had been feeling the block on her magic weakening with time and she knew Belasco was weaker. She shivered for the tenth time as she remembered what was going on inside the Citadel. Belasco had regained consciousness and had bound her immediately. By that point, she had killed about a dozen of the elite guard as Cat liked referring to Belasco's high rank minions.

The king of Limbo had then cast a protective bubble of magic around both of them just in case the invaders decided to separate and attack from inside. He knew with their relationship as master and apprentice Illyana couldn't harm a single hair on him and he didn't want her to try teleporting another of his minions. Illyana knew that if these people failed, and she also didn't manage to escape then Belasco will be punishing her really bad.

And then she had felt the wizard. Magic similar to what she felt when she tapped into her inner magic only this was too big it practically dwarfed her own. She felt him when he arrived at the entrance of the courtyard despite not seeing him. Belasco seemed to have sensed him as well as he fixed that particular spot with his gaze. He had ordered all his minions leaving only twenty of his strongest and he was sure no one would be able to get to him and if they did, they would be too weak to fight him. She knew that the wizard had no chance against the twenty unless the other man as well as Storm joined him.

However, she would soon be proved wrong a second later as she felt magic spreading around the courtyard emanating from the wizard. Wind started whipping around the courtyard as clouds started gathering in the sky. And then it started raining. _Raining in limbo._ She had last seen rain seven years ago before coming here but it was actually raining and not just rain but a storm. The rain and winds were bouncing off the magic bubble but she could see the effect on those outside.

She watched in awe and fear as lightning flashed across the sky and then it started raining down on the demons. Within seconds, all the twenty were dead, the smell of burnt flesh filling the air. The moment the lightning stopped, Belasco dropped the bubble and attacked the wizard. Illyana knew that the wizard stood no chance. No one was capable of doing something like that and still manage to fight. Therefore, she took this chance to escape. Her magic had been freed enough for her to be able to summon a teleportation disc to take her home all she needed was to get Storm and Cat so they would get out of here.

She teleported out of the courtyard to join the fight outside. She heard howls of pain from inside and the sounds of fighting. She heard the wizard shouting what she thought were spells as she killed one demon after another. All this time the block on her magic was weakening along with Belasco and she gave the wizard more credit. She briefly wondered if she could ever be like him but immediately dismissed the thought. That man in there was no ordinary human. A wave of magic washed over her and the three demons she was fighting aged at an extremely fast rate before crumbling into dust.

Illyana looked up to see the second man destroying demon after demon like he had been doing this for the whole of his life. She had known Storm was powerful but these two men were bringing a completely new definition to the word. The man who Belasco had initially thought of as the only threat cut through two of Belasco's minions almost in the same movement. He was moving so fast that she was having a hard time following his movements, something even Storm had never managed.

Conjuring two swords, Illyana fought her way towards Storm, the demons were too many and unless the wizard fighting Belasco managed to kill him, -which was next to impossible- then she needed to get her two friends from here as soon as possible while her master was distracted. She dodged through the suits of armor on the ground that were slaughtering the demons nonstop and waved her way through them with precision once again thanking Cat for that training.

She had just reached within shouting distance when a blood freezing howl came from inside the citadel. It was almost instantly followed by another and Illyana was sure it wasn't the wizard. An extremely longer one that seemed to freeze even the demons outside seemed to shake the very ground and then Illyana felt the connection she shared with Belasco snap. Before she could even understand the meaning of that, the dome that had been put around the Citadel by the wizard snapped.

The fighting grounds were quiet as all the demons had stilled as if suspended in time. Even the suits of armor had stopped their movements. Every turned to the entrance of the Citadel and they could see a figure limping through the door. The wizard limped his way into sight and Illyana gasped loudly as the implications caught up with her. _Someone_ had fought against Belasco and had won. She had come to think of the Demon king as some all-knowing invincible being and never thought anyone could ever best him in a fight let alone send him running with his tail between his legs. But someone had done just that. A human no less.

All around her, the other demons seemed to be of the same mind but rather than be in awe, they were afraid and the ones that were still capable of it flew the hell out of there while the others just limped away as soon as possible. The fighters, too relieved with the end of the fight didn't bother to stop the fleeing demons or give chase. They just came next to the tired looking wizard who was fiddling with his bag.

-ANLANLANLANL-

"I see you are still alive." Stephen said as he floated next to an extremely exhausted Harry.

"It would seem so." Stephen himself didn't look any better. He was covered in blood and looked dead on his feet. Harry was surprised the older man hadn't passed out yet.

"So what now?"

"Now…" Harry started. "…now we go home and forget whatever happened here."

"So he is dead?" Stephen asked while surveying the still fleeing demons.

"Last I saw him he wasn't. Though he will be lucky to survive." Harry answered.

"You know, Belasco is one of the most feared Demon Lords in the universe and the fact that you defeated him shows that you are quite powerful yourself."

"Why thank you Doc." Harry gushed. "Is that jealousy I detect in your voice?"

"You bet your snake suit it is."

The two laughed and hugged. While they had a sketchy start, they both new that this was a start to a very interesting friendship.

"I am glad I met you Mr. Potter." Stephen said as he held Harry's hand.

"Me too Mr. Strange_"

"Doctor."

"Oh whatever." Harry rolled his eyes. "Now, do you have an idea what sup with these cuties." Harry asked as they turned to the disappearing out of sight demons.

"I believe I can explain." The two turned to the new voice. "When you defeated Belasco _which I am still having a hard time believing_ they now recognised just how much of a threat you were to their continued existence."

"You must be Ms. Rasputin." Stephen said as he offered the blonde girl his arm. "I am Doctor Strange and this is Lord Potter-Black."

"You know me?" the girl asked as she shook the offered hands.

"I came back from one of my adventures as Sorcerer Supreme and was told about your disappearance Seven months ago which I may add you were seven years old." Stephen explained and received a raised eyebrow.

"We have been here for seven years Mr. Strange." Stephen opened his mouth to correct her but he was interrupted by Harry.

"That is all well and good but I'm very tired of this gloomy place and I want to go home." He turned to Illyana. "And I would like you to come with me if you don't mind."

"Why?"

"I am not sure if you have noticed but you are like me. You are capable of performing magic from your magical core and I am willing to train you in how to use it."

"You mean I can do all that you did here." She asked, a little excitement in her voice.

"That and more with the right training." Harry assured the girl.

"But if you leave, who will be the ruler here?" Cat who had been quiet all this time asked.

"I don't care about ruling, I never wanted to be here in the first place." Harry shrugged. "They can kill themselves for all I care."

"I will stay." Storm said and everyone looked at her. "This has become my home. I no longer have a life on earth. With Belasco gone, I am the most powerful magic user around, I will just need a few wards and I can rule in your place."

"I will stay with her." Cat said as she stood next to Storm. Illyana seemed to be ready to say the same thing but she was silenced by the glares from the other two.

After that was settled, they set everything in order. Harry had his suits of armor surround the property and after doing a few adjustments and creating new wards around the citadel, Harry called Nym who transported the three back to the Sanctum in New York. Harry knew that the events of today will have an impact on his life in the future but he decided he would deal with whatever consequences as they came. It was only when they reached on earth for Harry to find out that it was still Halloween.

-ANLANLANLANL-

 _ **30 Minutes later.**_

"Are you kidding me?" Harry growled at Wong who moved back a little.

"I most assuredly aren't, Mr. Potter."

"But how is this possible. Isn't time supposed to move faster here on earth than in Limbo?"

"That is what usually happens yes."

Harry sighed as he sunk into a chair. Strange was passed out in his room and Illyana had been seated watching Harry with a mixture of trepidation and amusement as he yelled at Wong for daring to tell him that they had been in Limbo for barely five minutes from earth's perspective.

"I am sure it can't be that bad." Wong tried to calm the angry wizard. Apparently that was the wrong thing to say as Harry shot out of his chair and started advancing on the Asian man.

"It can't be that bad? Today is fucking Halloween. _Halloween_ ," he growled as he stalked towards Wong who back stepping towards the door rather rapidly and luckily he reached it and retreated very fast slamming the door in the wizard's face. Harry let out another grow of frustration as he once again sank back in his chair. Only for Nym, to reappear in front of him. She sent a couple of urgent massages along with what he believed were apologies. Harry rubbed his temples in frustration before with a jolt he looked at Illyana as if remembering that she was still there.

"Uh… Ms. Rasputin, isn't your brother with the X-Men?"

"Yes Sir." She answered obediently.

"Good." Harry nodded to himself not even registering how she had referred to him. "I imagine that you would like to meet your family first. So I'm going to let you stay with them until the beginning of next year and discuss about the apprenticeship_"

"Apprenticeship?" Illyana interrupted in surprise.

"Yeah, and after I have talked with your parents I will see about moving you to Potter Cove." Harry finished as he withdrew a pepper up potion.

"Potter Cove, and what is that, is it some kind of serum?"

Harry blinked tiredly at the girl.

"Potter Cove is where I live and this is an energizing potion which you will learn to brew in time." With that Harry downed the contents of the vail and almost instantly he was transformed. The tired look in his eyes disappeared immediately, his posture straightened and the weary lines in hiss temples disappeared. The bones that had been broken during his fight had been mostly been healed by his magic and the remaining pain now reduced to a dull throb which could be ignored without even trying.

"Alright." Harry exclaimed as he stood up. "Let's get this over with."

He offered his hand to Illyana and Nym landed on his shoulder before they disappeared in a flash. Illyana, not used to the method of travel blinked away the white spots in her eyes. When her vision cleared, she saw the X mansion standing before her in all its glory. She had been here only once in her life when she came to visit her brother. That was about a year before she was kidnapped by Belasco. She watched silently as Harry stalked towards the gate and rang the bell. A few seconds later, the gate opened to reveal Charles Xavier in his floating wheel chair.

"Mr. Potter, what a pleasant surprise."

"I can imagine." Harry answered dryly. He had never forgiven the bald telepath for trying to read his mind and he was in very prickly mood at the moment. "I would like you to meet someone."

"Oh, a pleasure to meet you miss…" Charles prompted as he offered his hand to Illyana. His brows furrowed as he seemed to refrain himself from reading her mind to confirm where the feeling of familiarity was coming from."

"Rasputin, Illyana Rasputin, Professor." She answered with a smile as Charles did a double take.

"But… you are… aren't_" the telepath stammered in confusion. Something very few ever got the privilege of witnessing.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, she is supposed to be seven was kidnapped to Limbo and you failed to retrieve her." Harry said impatiently. "I am sure she will be more than willing to tell you the details but now wants to meet her family. I am you won't mind to help her will you?"

"Of course not." Charles seemed to be offended by the mere fact that Harry suggested it.

"Excellent." Harry exclaimed and turned to Illyana. "I'll be on my way then. If you wish to contact me, just call for Nym."

"Nym?" she asked in confusion.

"The extremely beautiful companion of mine you saw before we came here." She nodded. "Nym will find you wherever you are in seconds, all you have to…is…" Harry trailed off as a car rolled into the driveway towards the mansion. "Professor, who is in that car?"

"That would be Logan and Storm. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing really, something doesn't seem right." Harry muttered more to himself than the benefit of his audience. He shook his head. He could already feel the effects of the pepper-up potion started to wear off. "Anyway, see you around."

With that, he teleported directly into his bedroom. The amount of magic forcing the pepper-up to were off. He stumbled into the bathroom and forced himself to have a shower before he crawled into his bed and was out like a light before his head even reached the pillow.

-ANLANLANLANL-

In an immense other-worldly cavern, the former King of limbo arrived with a huge outburst of magic. This however was no ordinary caver. This was the dwelling of a race of magical creatures known as the Cat-people. This was a large colony of warriors who were banished from earth about half a millennium ago just before magic disappeared from earth and was forgotten about by everyone living on the planet. This particular group of cat-people were descendants of a powerful Demon known as Balkathar. They were a vicious lot who made short work on anyone who dared to cross into their real.

This is where a dying Belasco's magic led him. He could have easily suffered the same fate as many before him had given how enticing his magic was to the cat-people. But there was only one thing which saved him, and the very reason why his magic brought him to this particular dimension. Belasco was Balkathar's father despite his lack of knowledge about the other Demon's existence. The cat-people immediately felt the kinship and connection between the dying Demon who had appeared in their realm with themselves. They immediately set to work in nursing him back to health, all the while one thought was going through their heads.

 _Who dared to harm one of their own, their great ancestor no less._

-ANLANLANLANLANL-

AN: Alright folks, I am back and things should begin to pick up pace from now on. I want to take this opportunity to tell you that I have gotten a Beta and things should look better starting from next chapter.

Sorry for the short chapter and I promise a longer one next time. Also those asking about the plot, I have no idea. I start typing with only aa general idea of where I want the chapter to go and the rest write out by themselves.

As for the fight scene, it was pretty substandard but Belasco was caught by surprise and had no idea of what Harry was capable of so don't complain of how fast the cute little demon lost. Thanks for reading, and see you next chapter.


	9. Chapter 9

**A NEW LIFE.**

 **Chapter 9**

 _Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners._

-ANLANLANLANL-

 _ **POTTER'S COVE**_

Harry slowly opened his eyes and blinked. Then blinked again. Two large silver eyes, _very familiar_ silver eyes were peering at his. They were so close that the eye-lashes were touching.

"Luna?"

"Yes, Harry…"

"What are you doing?" Harry asked raising an eyebrow with Luna's own eyebrow following the movement.

"Trying to see if you are awake." Luna answered as she pulled back with a frown of concentration.

"I am now, thanks to you." Harry answered tiredly noting that the lithe girl was straddling him as she settled back and sat on his stomach.

"That is yet to be seen."

"Can you move now; I really need to use the bathroom."

Luna looked at him for a few seconds as if considering the question and then with a sigh, she got off him. Harry ran to the bathroom and a minute later he came back.

"How long have I slept. I feel like I haven't eaten in years."

"Only two days." Luna answered seriously. "I didn't expect you to take that long."

"Well, you will excuse me for forgetting to wake up after I had exhausted myself like that." Harry grumbled. "How did I end up there in there first place?"

"Oh, that was me." She answered happily. "And you are welcome by the way."

"It was _you_. And why exactly did you send me there?"

"Well I saw how lonely you and decided to get you an apprentice." She continued and Harry had to agree on the lonely part. "Not to mention you averted a catastrophe that could have destroyed this universe."

"And what was that?" Harry asked as he started down the stairs to get breakfast with Luna floating next to him.

"Belasco had been seeking to bring forth a legion of very powerful entities known as the _Elder Gods_ to rule earth with the help the Beatrix medallion. This medallion to work needs to have five bloodstones that were to be created by corrupting Illyana's soul with a new stone appearing as her corruption deepens. I assure you the end result wouldn't have been good for earth, let alone the entire universe."

By this point, the pair had reached the dining room where the house-elves had made for him a ridiculously heavy breakfast. He sent a quiet thankyou to the elves and ignored the sniff which he knew had come from an elf who was invisible in the room. Harry started digging in with a viciousness that would have made Ron proud as he watched Luna expectantly.

"The girl had been resisting so far but Belasco had found a way to forcibly create one bloodstone and with the creation of one, the other four would have swiftly followed. Only for you to drop in and interrupt his plans as he had been planning to perform the ritual on Halloween which by the way is always the same day no matter what dimension or universe one might be in."

Harry paused in his gobbling and glanced at her.

"I knew I should have killed the bastard."

"Well, you didn't, so expect him to show up in the future, not to mention your… _trip_ caught the attention of certain individuals, so I imagine you'll be getting busy in the nearby future."

"What do you mean?" Harry narrowed his eyes at the blonde. "You don't plan to be dropping me into evil dimensions anytime soon do you?"

"Oh, don't be a baby." Luna admonished with a frown. "You can't tell me you didn't enjoy the work out."

"Point." Harry admitted and went back to his meal. "So, what exactly do you do when you are not trying to kill me?"

…..

Harry looked up only to find that his conversation partner was long gone. Shaking his head, he managed to complete his meal in the next five minutes and after taking a shower, he headed to the muggle room to watch some T.V.

He had surrounded the whole room with magic dampening runes to the extent that almost no magic existed in this particular room. Even he, would have to use a lot of magic just to perform the smallest of effects. He managed to get a battery that charged off ambient magic which powered all the electronics in the room. He hadn't been able to make them work around magic so he made sure no magic came anywhere near any of the electronics.

Across the screen there was a work station which he had been using to try to catch up on the muggle side of his education which had stopped when he was eleven. Harry had been fascinated with physics, probably because he enjoyed breaking whatever laws and theories with his magic. He had also started tinkering with some electronics, one laptop had taken the brunt of his tinkering and was barely recognizable.

However, all this had come from boredom. Almost all the time he had nothing to do. Natasha, only showed up in the morning and by noon she would be leaving for SHIELD. Harry liked to believe that Fury didn't want one of SHIELD's most valuable agent to be corrupted by him. However, most of the day Harry would spend it either reading in the library, training, watching T.V or just lousing around.

He had come up with many theories on his Magicals' Tracking System or MTS as he referred to it. However, most of them were just capable of sensing each and every magic presence and on a very small scale. While that would have been helpful, with the resurgence of magic on the earth, it would mean that whatever magical creature or anything even remotely related to magic would be registered on his MTS. In other words, he would never be able to separate the relevant ones and those which were not. However, that gave him a starting point and he was sure that by the beginning of the next year, he would have come up with a working MTS. He was hoping that if he got a good idea on physics, he could apply it in creating an efficient MTS. But he was still on the basics on the subject.

Harry shook himself out of his musings and opened the laptop but he was interrupted by the arrival of Nym. The dampening in the muggle room somehow couldn't stop Nym's flashing though it could stop Harry's teleporting or apparating.

"Hello there Nym, you looking quite magn_" Harry trailed off as he was flashed from the room. When the lightning flash disappeared, he was sitting on what he recognised as a pouch of some house while a fight seemed to be going on in the street. "What the fuck, Nym?"

Harry was cuffed in the face with a wing for his language before he received a couple of images in answer. Some girl was being possessed by a dark phoenix and the entity will be able to take over the body completely take over the body if she manages to kill three loved ones. At this point the girl had already killed one oved one and will be killing her second one if Harry doesn't get up and get into the house right… _wait what._

Harry stood up on his feet even as the house started shaking and raised voices could be heard coming from inside. He hissed for his ring to suit up and entered the house even as the basilisk-skin suit flowed on his body. The Elder wand appeared in his hand as he followed the voices as well as the powerful magic coming from one particular room up the stairs.

He kicked the door and entered with a shield up in case he was attacked but no one of the three people inside even reacted to his entrance. He resisted the sigh of disappointment and studied what was going on. There was a man with some kind of helmet who was shouting his lungs out and was stuck on the wall next to Charles' destroyed wheelchair on the other side across a girl of about seventeen though her eyes were very old. Whether he was shouting encouragement to the girl or pleading, Harry had no idea.

Said girl had dark red hair and Harry noted that it was the same shade with his mother's. Light green eyes with dark red rings around the irises were regarding a floating Charles Xavier with disgust while the rest of the things in the room seemed to be _disintegrating_ around them as magic whipped around the room very loudly. Harry had no doubt the professor would be facing the same fate soon enough. That is if Harry hadn't been there; he took in all this in a matter of three seconds before he dropped the shield and fired an over powered stunner at the girl.

The red-haired girl as if sensing the approaching spell turned to where it was coming from, eyes wide in surprise but it was too late and the stunner hit her in the chest and the force hurled her into the wall where she fell in a boneless heap. Knowing, that it wouldn't be enough to keep her unconscious for long, especially if the Dark Phoenix was in control, Harry went to the barely conscious form of Charles Xavier. Before he could even do anything, he felt someone trying enter his mind.

"Are you seriously doing this now?" he asked in exasperation and the professor blinked at him.

"I apologies Mr. Potter. I can't seem to concentrate on your face for some reason and I wanted to know who you were." Charles explained sheepishly. "What are you doing here?"

"Saving your bald ass apparently." Harry answered as he grabbed a stuffed dog that had somehow survived the destruction of its brethren and turned it into a portkey.

"What did you just do?"

"Sending you back to the mansion. ACTIVATE."

"What, you can't…." he tried to protest only to be whisked away back to the mansion.

Harry made to get up only to find that he couldn't get up. He looked at his thighs only to see that he had been tied to the floor in his kneeling position. While he could move his hands, he could not stand up.

"Fascinating." He looked up at the speaker to see the man with the helmet floating in front of him. "How come I have never heard of one as powerful as you seem to be…"

"And who are you supposed to be?"

The man blinked as if surprised that Harry didn't know him.

"You seem to genuinely not know me." He mused. "I am known as Magneto by most people and I am the_"

"I don't care what you are Magenta, she will be waking up soon and I suggest you get out here because she will not be happy." Harry answered.

"The name is Magneto and I assure you Ms. Grey will not attack a friend."

Harry was about to answer but he saw the girl stirring and knew that it would be no use arguing with the idiot. He transfigured his metal binds into sand and grabbed Magenta's cape and teleported into the street outside. It was just in time too as Jean released one of her most attacks and completely vaporized the entire wall as well as everything between leaving a wall sided hole in the house. All the fighting stopped as everyone stared at the girl who was floating towards them.

"Magenta, get everyone as far from here as possible." Harry said as he flew towards the floating girl. Back on the ground, Magneto bristled at being ordered and the fact that the fool was clearly mispronouncing his name intentionally. However, he had to admit that at this point no person in their right mind would stand in Jean's way right now. He was pretty sure that he wouldn't have survived that attack earlier. Maybe he would talk to the girl after she had somewhat calmed down, and maybe Potter as he seemed pretty powerful himself and the two would be very valuable additions to the _Brotherhood of Mutants._

He signaled Callisto and the rest of the members of the _Brotherhood_ who were still engaged in combat with the X-men to leave. even as they boarded their jet, they could see Jean Grey and the Potter literary ripping the street apart while the rest of the X-men were watching not knowing who to help.

-ANLANLANLANL-

For the second time in less than a week, Illyana bore witness to the power of the man known as Harry Potter. She had insisted on coming along with the X-men on their _retrieval_ mission of one of their own. Only to find the _Brotherhood_ waiting. She hadn't done much in the actual fight actually except shielding and for a few moments fighting Callisto as Storm got a breather. That wasn't because she didn't want to fight but because she had no idea what to do. All forms of magic she knew was for killing only as that had been all she had needed back in Limbo and she was pretty sure killing wouldn't be appreciated.

While the confrontation was happening, she had felt a spike of magic coming from inside the house. _Dark magic_ as she had been quite familiar with it during her tutorage with Belasco. She had been about to go in and help the professor only to be stopped by her brother. Colossus was having a very hard time grasping the fact that his little sister wasn't so little anymore and that she had faced more horrors than he probably would ever face in the whole of his life.

She could have insisted to go and probably forced the issue but at that moment Harry Potter had arrived. After talking to the beautiful teleporting bird, he had darted into the house and a few seconds later, the noise and the dark magic coming from the house stopped. Everyone had stopped and waited with baited breath to see who would walk out. And then Harry had appeared in their midst holding onto Magneto and half a second later, half of the house was vaporized.

And then they had had _fought._

Knowing that what was about to come wouldn't be good, Illyana cast her strongest shield covering the group of X-men. Harry sent her an appreciative smile before her shield flared blue and became almost visible from the amount of magic he had just added onto hers. Then he turned to join Jean/phoenix where she was floating, her body practically radiating fury. A few inches from the ground, he was met by a telekinetic blast which destroyed part of the road creating a small crater where he had fallen.

Harry floated out of the small crater and stood on the ground even as Jean/phoenix flew towards him. He sent a banishing charm at the approaching girl only for her to simply _absorb_ the magic. He immediately teleported to the other side and barely saved himself another attack vaporized where he had formerly been standing. Before he could even get started on casting again, another wave came towards him and this time he cast a reflective shied which sent the blast towards what was remaining of the Grey residence destroying it completely.

The girl seemed surprised that her attack had been redirected and that was enough for Harry's mind to switch into battle mode as Daphne often referred to it. This was what had made Harry the leader of the opposing forces of Voldemort despite having older and more experienced wizards in the forces. His ability to think on his feet and flow with the battle, adjust accordingly with the way it shifted. He could always have a clear mind and could never freeze or be overwhelmed in any way.

His battle mind realized that somehow, the Phoenix was capable of absorbing his magic and was ridiculously powerful. Direct magic attacks would have little to no effect on her which meant he would have to resort to indirect attacks. The fact that he didn't want to harm the girl made things harder but the knowledge that he would be able to fix any physical harm she gets once the phoenix had been banished made him less worried.

After watching her childhood home get destroyed for two seconds, the phoenix turned to finish off the human only to run into a stone fist which sent her flying. Even as the bones of the host's body started repairing themselves she stood up and to be barreled into by a stone lion which sent her back on the ground. She immediately destroyed it but the lion seemed to reform and at the same time another one formed besides the first one and they charged at her. She destroyed them almost negligently only for them to multiply forming four.

While Jean/Phoenix had been distracted by the transfigured lions, Harry had been busy. Tracing the Elder wand, Harry traced three Norse runes in the air which formed in a glowing ring in front of him. _Bind. Down. Blast._ Harry fed the three runes with as much magic as was possible until ring had formed a miniature sun in front him before he banished them at the girl and just in time as she had gotten tired of playing around with the currently ten lions and had decided to take back to the air.

The binding rune would bind cut her source of energy which would eventually make her to run out while the gravity rune would ensure that she does not fly. The blasting rune would do exactly as it implies and that is exactly what happened. Jean/Phoenix had been about to fly when the first two runes were absorbed into her and she dropped on the ground. The blasting rune sent her flying into the building directly across her home breaking more bones which were healing very slowly thanks to the binding rune. Before she could regain her bearings, she was grabbed by a lion and was tossed back into the street where the other lions were waiting.

After playing toss with her, the disoriented girl was tossed at Harry's feet by the lions and they reverted back to their original forms. Harry traced another binding rune and absorbed it into the girl's body, temporarily sealing away the Phoenix. He had no idea how long he could keep the entity bound but hopefully, by the time it managed to get strong enough to break through, he would have found a way to banish it.

He slowly raised his wand and healed the minor wounds and stopped any blood flow. After he was sure she was stable enough albeit with a number of broken bones, he closed his eyes and concentrated then sent a huge pulse of magic across the area where the fight had been. He collapsed on his knees breathing heavily from the amount of magic he had expelled but smiled in satisfaction at the gaping mouths of X-men as everything started going back to their original state before even Charles and Magneto's arrival. Even the Grey house slowly reverted back to its normal self and when the magic was done doing its work, there was completely no sign of having been a fight.

"You can drop the shield now Illyana." Harry said and the girl's mouth shut with an audible click.

"Are you alright Mr. Potter?" Charles asked rolling his way towards him. With his floating wheelchair destroyed, he had gone back to his old one.

"I just need some rest I should be fine."

"What about Jean, is she still…" Charles asked hesitantly. The rest of the team was a little distance away, probably they had been told to wait.

"She should be herself when she wakes up." Harry answered as he got up. "I am not exactly sure how long the phoenix will be bound_"

"You bound it?" Charles asked in concern and Harry raised an eyebrow. "Is that wise, how sure are you that it even worked."

"Well, short of killing her, that is the best option I had and I should be able to banish it within a few weeks, I just need to find the ingredients for the ritual." Harry answered as he retrieved his mokeskin pouch. "And I am quite confident in my abilities thank you very much."

"I didn't mean to imply anything Mr. Potter. It is just that the first time this happened we ended up in this situation." Charles answered with a sigh. "And about your abilities, I have to say they are very extraordinary. I just can't imagine how anyone could be capable of doing what you did here today. I don't know what would have happened if you weren't here."

"You would be dead." Harry said bluntly as he poured a sleeping draught down her throat. He then used Lockhart's bone vanishing spell to vanish all the fractured bones and poured the Skelegro in Jean's mouth.

"What was that?"

"The first potion will keep her sleep for as long as the second potion does its magic. The second will regrow all her _missing_ bones so you should keep her in that position until she wakes up. I'll come and check on her when she wakes up." Harry explained as he got back up. "Now, if that is all, I need a shower and a lot of food. Nym."

"Wait Mr. Potter we… oh I hate it when he does that." Charles grumbled.

"Professor…who was that?" Ororo asked as the rest of the team.

"That was Harry Potter."

"The mutant we went to get from SHIELD?"

"Yes, but I believe he did something to stop others from concentrating on his face."

"Wow, how a mutant be capable of doing all that. Will he be staying at the mansion?" Bobby said in wonder and Charles chuckled.

"I am afraid not. Mr. Potter is more than just a mutant."

"You mean he is also a mutant?" Illyana asked in surprise and the others turned to her.

Before the questions could come, he brought the attention back to Jean and after explaining what Harry had told him, they put her in the jet and flew back to the mansion. It took a lot of convincing for the rest to take Harry's word though Logan, still angry at Xavier decided to take a break from the mansion. Even with the situation of the mutant cure still on, Jean was now their biggest concern. They would even forget about the master of magnetism for some time. Well that is until he comes to kidnap Jean.

-ANLANLANLANL-

Harry arrived back at Potter's Cove and immediately went to the library to the section of banishing rituals. Harry had never really been in a situation which needed banishing something, not to mention something as powerful as the Phoenix. Ritual magic had been considered very dark magic back at home and there had been ways of tracking it in the department of mysteries therefore it was near impossible to even attempt.

Except by those with the knowledge of hiding themselves or powerful enough that nothing could be done even if the ministry knew that they were dabbling in ritual magic. In other words, _The Ancient and Noble house of Black._ With the formidable wards of Peverell Manor, Harry and Sirius had been on free-range to try anything of their fancy and they had put it to good use. They had performed as many rituals on themselves as was reasonable.

Rituals which allowed one to directly manipulate their magical core hence making wandless magic possible, those which increase a person's awareness with magic and their bodies. There were other simple rituals like correcting Harry's eyes and malnourishment and others used by the Marauders to bind one's wand to their right arm enabling them to do magic with that particular arm without the fear of breaking one's wand.

However, there were many other darker rituals in the Black library, many of which Voldemort had accessed through Bellatrix and Regulus hopping to gain favor with the rising dark lord. And Harry had a feeling he would be finding the necessary ritual in this category. Harry was in the library for hours and probably would have spent the night if Triki hadn't threatened 'popping' him to outer space. How the elf knew about outer space, he had no idea but he was sure all the elves converged in the muggle room when he was watching T.V somehow managing to keep invisible despite the dampening inside.

The next day right after having breakfast, Harry went back to the library and continued looking through the large tomes. He had been able to go through two out of the ten tomes on rituals and he hadn't found anything in relation to banishing. He was there for five hours and by the time lunch rolled around, he was in the middle of his fourth tome.

He was dragged by Triki to the dining room for lunch. Halfway through his meal, his mirror vibrated.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite redhead."

"Hi Harry, how are you doing?" Natasha said from the other side. Harry could see that she was at the Helicarrier and was fully suited.

"Not complaining here. At least I haven't had someone beating me up every morning for the last two weeks." He said with a smile.

"And here I was thinking you missed me." She answered with a mock sigh of sadness.

"In your dreams sweetheart."

"You would like to feature in those wouldn't you?"

"Oh, trust me I could if I wanted."

Natasha's eyes narrowed.

"You can't do that can you? I mean going to people's dreams?"

"Ask me no questions and I will tell you no lies." He answered with a reassuring mile which did the very opposite to the redhead. "Anyway, I highly doubt you called me just to show me your beautiful self especially with the way you are all covered up like that."

"Yeah, well I was just wondering when you had joined up with the X-men."

"What do you mean?"

In answer, she turned the mirror facing a tab and played a footage of his fight with the phoenix from the beginning up to the end. He noted that video ended just as he cast the _Reparo_ spell, probably because the camera was fried from the huge amount of magic. Or maybe the SHIELD agent who was recording got knocked out.

"Been busy have we?"

"How do you even know it was me, my face is not even clear." And it was the truth, while everything was very clear, Harry's face was not, there was a very subtle blur which would force whoever is watching the video to picture for themselves the features of the face without even realizing.

"Your attire kind of gives you away to those who know about it." Natasha answered dryly and Harry had to admit he looked pretty regal with his emerald cloak flapping from the amount of magic around him.

"Ah, I guess it does. Anyway, I was running an errand for Nym." Natasha raised an eyebrow. "A dark phoenix, was possessing the girl and Nym felt insulted that it had dared come to her domain and apparently taking a human host is frowned upon where they come from. So she asked me_"

"You mean _ordered_ _"

"Well yeah but I can't say that aloud, she would get a big head." Harry shared a laugh with Natasha. "So, I went to give her a beating and bind her and I'm currently researching for ways to banish her."

"Sounds interesting."

"When has anything about me not been interesting?"

"Point." Natasha conceded with a laugh. "And when do you plan to do the… _banishing_?"

"Not exactly sure but likely tomorrow, why?"

"I wanna watch."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Really, done with babysitting the old man already?"

"No, but I am sure he can handle himself for a day. And it's not like you see something like that every day."

"Ok then, I will call you."

"Good, I guess I should let you get back to your research. Have a nice day." Natasha said and she hang up without waiting for a reply.

Harry completed his meal and was just about to head back to the library but his alert ward he had put on the girl notified him that she had woken up. He went and changed his clothes and teleported to the front door of the mansion. He pushed the door to enter and collided with a girl. As the two went down, Harry twisted so the girl fell on top of him. Thanks to his rituals, he was more durable than the average human so he almost didn't feel the fall.

"I am so sorry…." The girl said but didn't make a move to get up from his chest. Harry chuckled and the girl as if remembering that she was lying on someone practically leaped away from him.

"And just when I was getting comfortable." Harry sighed as he got up and the girl blushed.

That is when he got a good look at her. She was beautiful and seemed to be about sixteen and very pale. She was dressed in a casual black top and jeans. Her hands were covered with gloves though one had fallen off the right hand when they fell down. Her green eyes were watching her ungloved hand in fear and Harry could clearly see that she was scared despite the curtain of brown and white hair hiding her face.

"Hey you are ok_"

"Don't touch me." The girl snapped as she recoiled away from Harry's touch only to trip on her bag. Harry immediately summoned her preventing her from falling though the second glove didn't survive the fate.

"Shhh, its ok." Harry coed at the girl who was struggling to free herself from the hug. "I am not going to release you until you calm down. So I suggest you stop struggling and just enjoy the hug."

"Please, you have to release me." The girl sobbed. "I could kill you."

"It would be nice to die with a pretty girl as yourself in my chest. Better than that Magenta fellow." Harry shuddered dramatically at the thought. He noted that the girl's efforts had stopped.

"Magenta?" She asked.

"Yeah, that guy with the helmet from yesterday." Harry said seriously gently pushing the girl from his chest though he didn't release her.

"I think you mean Magneto." She snorted. "How are you alive?"

Harry chuckled slightly and the girl frowned at him. "Sorry, it's just that your question brings back old memories. I just have a habit of not dying when people most expect me to."

"Oh…"

"But we are not here to talk about me, why did you think I would die?" Harry asked as he pulled back.

"It's my mutant power." She stated sadly as she went to pick her bag. "I absorb people's life force along with their powers and sometimes memories whenever I have skin contact though it seems it doesn't work on you."

"Fascinating." Harry muttered. "So that is why you thought I would die. I imagine if the contact is long then they die. Damm, must make having sex difficult."

The girl chocked on her saliva apparently bushing furiously, apparently surprised at Harry's reaction.

"So, where are you headed now?" Harry asked glancing at her bag.

"To get the cure."

Harry had heard about the _mutant cure_ from the news and had scoffed at the idea. Mutant powers were suppressed magic which evolved to create the affinity of someone who would have been a witch or wizard. Therefore, the fact that someone claimed to have a cure was just plain ridiculous. It would probably suppress the powers for some time but you could never get rid of it completely.

"It doesn't work." Harry stated bluntly shocking the girl.

"What?"

"The so called 'cure' merely suppresses your powers for some time but they will come back. And the time depends on how powerful you are." Harry explained. He saw the crestfallen look at the girl's face and sighed. "You don't seem surprised."

"I had considered the possibility." She said sadly.

"You mean you are absolutely sure you want to get rid of them?"

"Of course I want to get rid of them. I am tired of being on my toes all the time not knowing when my gloves will fall off and I kill someone."

Harry considered the girl who had sat down and was leaning at the door. Despite the fact that he didn't want to get himself mixed up with non-magicals, he couldn't leave the girl just like that. He could bet all the gold in the world that suicide was one of the thoughts running through the girl's head and he would never forgive himself if something like that happened when he could have done something about it. He sighed and kneeled in front of her.

"Look… er what did you say your name was again?" He asked sheepishly remembering that they had never exchanged names. "I seem to have a very poor memory these days. I am Harry by the way in case you had forgotten as well."

"I am Anne Marie but they call me Rogue." She offered with a chuckle.

"Anne it is then. So Anne, I could make something which will prevent you from using your powers." Harry said and she looked intently at him. "I will just need something of value to you that you carry around with you all the time."

"You can do that?" Harry nodded emphatically. "How?"

"I know exactly how mutant powers work. As I am sure you saw what I did to Ms. Grey when she tried to escape from my lions."

Rogue shuddered as she remembered yesterday's events. She was just about to reply when she was interrupted.

"Mr. Potter?" Charles asked as he rolled into the entrance room. "I never got to thank you for saving my life yesterday."

"Hello Charlie old fellow." Harry greeted as he led Rogue by the hand towards Xavier. "I just came by to check on my friend when I _ran into_ this extremely beautiful creature. You wouldn't know where she belongs do you?"

"You are holding her hand." Charles more like stated that asked as the younger girl blushed as she pulled her hand from Harry's grip.

"I guess I am, or rather she is holding mine."

"Is there anything you are not capable of Mr. Potter?" Charles asked looking at Harry as if expecting to drop down any minute.

"So, about my patient, will she live?" Harry asked walking into the direction of his tracking charm as the other two followed after exchanging a look of surprise.

"Actually she woke up about five minutes ago. She is quite distraught with what happened to Scott but I am sure she will be fine." Charles answered as he followed him. "Though I must say your…potions worked marvelously. I have never heard of a situation where that many bones regrow in such a short period of time except in cases with people having healing powers."

"That is magic for you." Harry answered with a careless shrug. "Where is Illyana?"

"She went to visit her parents." Charles answered. "Is there any chance of_"

"NO"

"Surely, we can come to an agreement…"

"I said no and this discussion is over." Harry said firmly as they reached the door.

"But we can form a…"

"Professor, I hope that you get this in your bald head though I highly doubt it, I am not here to mingle and make friends with you and your people. And stop looking at Anne, she is a girl and a very beautiful one so she doesn't count." Harry answered as he entered hospital wing and went direct to the room where Jean was. "Stay there, I'm talking to you Charlie."

He opened the door for Rogue and closed it though he didn't lock it. Charles rolled his eyes and opened for himself as he followed the pair. Inside the room, Jean was seated on the bed with Ororo seated next to her. The two were regarding Harry as he entered behind the door and went to seat on the bed as well.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Harry asked the redhead.

"I am fine. And thank you for the beating you gave me yesterday." She said with a smile and the people chuckled.

"Your welcome." He answered with a smile. "You look more beautiful when you're not trying to kill me."

Jean blushed slightly and Ororo cleared her throat.

'Mr. Potter, I can't thank you enough for what you did for us yesterday."

"Please call me Harry. And as for thanking me…" Harry trailed off grinning at the dark skinned woman who rolled her eyes.

"Harry_"

"Call me Mr. Potter, Charles."

"That's not fair." The old professor complained while the rest of the room laughed at his expense.

"I can count for you the things that are unfair and we would all end up being bald headed like you."

"So, is it really gone?" Jean asked quietly. "I haven't felt it since I woke up, and she hasn't tried to take over again."

"I am afraid she is not yet gone completely. I bound her very tightly and she will not be surfacing any time soon from wherever she is licking her wounds from." Harry assured the seventeen-year old girl. "However, in two days or less, I will be able to banish her completely and send her to wherever the hell she had come from."

"You mean like forever?"

"Yep." Harry grinned at her.

"I know magic was capable of a lot of things but the things I have seen you do are hard to believe." Ororo said. "At least not single handedly. I don't know of any sorcerer who can go head to head with something as powerful as a Phoenix and even beat it with such ease as you did."

"Ok now you are just giving me a big head." Harry grumbled. "Why don't we meet sometime, you know, to compare notes and all that."

"I would really like that Mr. Potter?"

The four people turned to look at Xavier who was looking at him innocently.

"I am not the smartest person around here." Rogue started. "But I am pretty sure that the invitation wasn't meant for you."

"Either way, I will think about your offer, Harry." Ororo said ignoring Charles' grumbling.

"That's more like it." Harry cheered as he stood up. "Anyway, I am glad you are fine Ms. Grey. I will come about tomorrow or the next day to pick you for the ritual."

"Er… ok. And thank you very much for your help." Jean answered from the where she was seated.

"Of, like I said, you are more beautiful a hero than a villain." Harry said and turned to Rogue. "And speaking of beautiful, make sure you have the you-know-what when I come back."

The girl nodded as she smiled at Harry's mysteriousness. The rest of the mutants in the room exchanged glances, it was not every day that you see Rogue smiling due to what she considered a burden that was her powers. Seeing her smile warmed the hearts of the two older mutants as they all turned to look at who was responsible, only he wasn't there.

"I _really_ hate it when he does that." Charles grumbled and Ororo nodded in agreement. Either way, they both knew that knowing Harry Potter was a blessing they could never overlook.

At the same time this was happening, a group of anti-mutant extremists blew up the building where the mutants who wanted to get the cure had gathered killing all of them and leaving no survivors. Kitty, Colossus, Bobby and Logan who had gone for an outing rushed home having left with the knowledge that Rogue was going to get the cure only to find said girl chatting happily with Jean.

-ANLANLANLANL-

The next day Harry had training in the Training room for about two hours before he went back to the library to continue searching for the ritual. He spent the whole day in the library and had his meals from there. He didn't visit the X- mansion and therefore never found out the failed kidnapping attempt by the brotherhood but it was not important since it wasn't even successful.

Just as he was about to turn in for the night, he came across the ritual. It wasn't exactly hard but it needed a lot of magic to perform. It was created to banish entities like phoenixes which usually had avatars on the mortal realm. However, the ingredients were almost impossible to acquire. For example, for this particular ritual, one would need phoenix tears, phoenix blood and phoenix ash. And it was the only ritual in all the ten tomes that dealt with this kind of situation.

Harry went to sleep and woke up the next day still trying to think of any alternatives which could be applied or even ways of altering the ritual so they could use something else. He was pretty sure there was no way of getting the needed amount of blood without killing the donor phoenix and he was not going to kill Nym just to banish the other entity. He knew that when the phoenix broke out of the bindings he had put on it, it will be even more powerful and would take twice if not thrice the effort to bind it again.

However, that was a small price to pay while he looked for an alternative. No matter how much he didn't want the girl to live with the burden of having something dark inside you and not knowing when it would come out and kill everyone you love, he wasn't going to kill the only thing keeping him sane. Harry was pretty sure that if it wasn't for Nym, the grief of everything he held dear being ripped from him. Just when he had killed Voldemort and it was time for him to _finally live_ like normal wizard.

Even the fact that he occasionally chatted with the twins would simply have increased the grief he felt for not being able to raise them and look after them like the father he never had. That was simply because of Nym. If he hadn't bonded with…. Harry's thoughts screeched to a halt.

 _Bonded…_

 _Could it be that easy? No it couldn't. If only it was. Or maybe for once it was. But, really…._

Harry jumped out of the bathtub and hollered for Nym who had been dozing on her patch in Harry's bedroom to wake up. Still naked and dripping water everywhere, he ran to the library, a particular appendage swinging freely and slapping on his wet thighs quite loudly. He ignored the mental image sent to him by Nym of a certain eccentric scientist as he descended the stairs and was in the library in record time. He ran to the table where he had left the tome, still open on the page which described the ingredients.

 _The Dark Phoenix like all other entities needs the following which must be acquired freely-given from their counterparts._

 _0.25 litters of phoenix tears (freely given)_

 _A handful of phoenix ashes. (freely given)_

 _0.5 litters of phoenix blood or an equivalent. (freely given)_

Harry had initially not even bothered to give any thought to the _equivalent_ part. But now thinking about it, it was obvious what the _equivalent_ meant. If a wizard bonded with a magical creature, they are connected in everything but the spirit. If a wizard died, their bonded would die as well though the reverse didn't apply. They shared the same magic though it manifested differently, and most importantly they shared blood. Harry and Nym shared the same blood. Which meant Harry's blood was as good as Nym's blood. In other words, Harry's blood was an _equivalent_ to Nym's blood.

Harry let out a cackle that would have made any villain green with envy. Deep within Jean's mind, the Phoenix shivered slightly. Maybe it hadn't been the best idea to take this particular host.

He immediately called Natasha and told her to come to Potter's Cove at her earliest convenience.

"Harry, are you _naked_ in the _library?"_

That had reminded Harry what he had been doing before he came to his break-through and he teleported back to shower. After his shower, he had a very heavy breakfast and went to the training room and concentrated on what ritual room he wanted. He created a room with a huge pit that had steps heading down into it. Next to the door was a viewing platform that gave a very clear view of what was going on.

Harry headed down in the pit where stood three bowls and one that was bigger than the other three. Nym appeared next to him and cried into one of the bowls half filling it with her tears. Harry conjured a very sharp blade and sliced his hand letting blood flow into the second bowl. When it was full, he healed his hand and gulped a blood-replenishing potion. Next he turned to Nym who was eying him with betrayal.

"Oh don't give me that look. If you didn't go to hide whenever you had your rebirth, I would have had enough ash in my stock." The phoenix seemed to give an impression of a pout before she jumped into the third bowl. Since she was very far from her rebirth, she couldn't personally trigger it to provide the ash needed for the ritual so Harry had to trigger it on his own. With the killing curse.

" _ **AVADA KEDAVRA"**_

The killing curse hit the phoenix and it _exploded_ in a flash of lightning. When the light disappeared, the bowl was covered in ash.

"Er…Nym." Harry called as he prodded the ash only for a very ugly chicken looking _thing_ to hobble out of the bowl. "Eww, Nym that is gross. How can you be so ugly?"

The ugly, naked chicken seemed to glare at Harry before it tried to walk away only to trip and fall beak first.

"Ugh…what is that ugly thing." Natasha gagged from where she was standing on the viewing platform and Harry chuckled shamelessly.

"Oh, just something I brought for the ritual." He said grinning at Nym who was trying to look for any shadows to hide.

"Does it have to be so gross."

"Trust me, the uglier the thing, the more magic it contains." Harry cackled at Nym and Natasha looked worried.

"Harry, what is that thing called?"

"Oh, I think I will call it _Nym_ phadora."

Natasha gasped at the implication. She had never been told the full name of the beautiful phoenix she had gotten to know.

"Is that…."

"Oh yes…" Harry cackled again.

"Oh Harry, you idiot. What did you do to her?" Natasha admonished him as she came and picked up the ugly thing.

"Oh now I know why you hide whenever the time comes." Harry continued laughing as the redhead assured the phoenix how beautiful she was no matter what the male idiot was saying. The two got out of the room and Harry finally got his laughter under control.

He started mixing the ingredients in the bigger bowl. When he was done, there was a green slightly glowing solution in the bowl which practically smelled of life. Harry could imagine just how much a single drop of this potion could be worth and how much it was capable of. Shaking his head, Harry got a brush and started drawing the two circles needed. The smaller one and the larger outer circle.

Inside the circles was where he started drawing the runes as per the instructions carefully in order to ensure that he made no mistake as it would have very explosive results that would put a nuclear attack a run for its money. With the circle finished, Harry teleported to the X-mansion and made a port key for Charles, Ororo and Logan while he teleported with Jean and Rogue. Since the teleporting room was next to the training room, they simply just crossed and entered the ritual chamber.

"Agent Romanoff, it is a pleasure to see you again." Charles greeted Natasha who was already waiting from the viewing area."

"It's Natasha. I am not here as an Agent of SHIELD but a friend of Harry's" Natasha answered as she shook the man's hand.

"Guys this is Natasha, Natasha these are Ororo, Logan, Jean and Anne." Harry introduced the respective parties. "Triki!"

Harry called and the elf became visible from across the room where Harry knew the rest of the elves were waiting to watch.

"Guys this is Triki, he is a house elf and him with his friends will attend to you as I am likely to pass out after the ritual." Harry didn't give them time to ask any questions as he gestured for Jean to get down into the pit.

"That looks like Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram" Charles observed the glowing circles and the runes.

"Never heard of it." Harry shrugged as he turned to the nervous girl. "It will be fine you may not even notice anything until you wake up."

"Ok." She took a deep breath before she looked at Harry uncertainly. "Uhm… do I need to…" she gestured at her clothes.

"Oh, no need for that." Harry assured the girl. "As much as I would appreciate the view, it isn't necessary for this particular ritual."

The girl bushed hard nearly catching up with her hair as she stepped into the middle of the ritual circle. Harry gestured for her to lie down on her back. He then sat cross-legged facing his audience and took a deep breath as he reached within himself for his magic. When he opened his eyes, everyone including the elves gasped at the two glowing emerald orbs. And then the real show begun.

-ANLANLANLANL-

AN: How is that for an ending people. I have to say I have always to write one of those knowing just how annoying they can be when I am reading someone's story. Anyway, I promise you that this will be the last of its kind.

One more chapter and we shall get to the avengers. Someone complained that I said more Avengers and less X-men yet I haven't even mentioned anything about them. I am however very sure that I have talked about all the Avengers in one way or the other.

Anyway, see you next time.


	10. Chapter 10

**A NEW LIFE**

 **Chapter 10**

 _Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners._

-ANLANLANLANL-

Charles Francis Xavier had witnessed many things in his quite exciting life if he did say so himself. And that was not even mentioning what sort of things he had witnessed in some people's scarily creative minds. He had witnessed things which induced fear, things which could bring happiness, excitement, and almost any human emotion one can think of. Those had become second nature to him. As one of, if not the most powerful telepath on the planet though he was pretty sure Jean will be in that position after today, Xavier had witnessed and was forced to confront such emotions on more than one occasion.

But this particular day would be one of the most memorable of his life. He could feel as if all human emotions were emanating from the pit down below just waiting to spring on him, while at the same time beckoning him to get to them. The tension in the air could almost be tasted on one's tongue as the magic built with in the pit. He unconsciously tightened his grip on the arm chair as Harry started releasing the magic. A breeze sweeping through the room despite the absence of windows.

The rune right in front of Harry started glowing a bright emerald, the same color as the orbs that Harry was sporting for eyes. And then slowly, very slowly, the runes on either side of the first one also started glowing with the same intensity as the first one. The breeze became stronger and Charles tried to wheel his chair back only for the control panel to let out a puff of smoke. He looked at his fellow audience in confusion but no one was even paying attention.

Natasha and Logan were leaning forward and Charles wondered how they hadn't fallen into the pit already. Rogue and Ororo weren't any different, Ororo's eyes sparkling in excitement while Rogue's were wide in wonder. None of them even noticed that their hair was being tossed around in the powerful breeze.

Xavier turned back to the ritual that was going on. Out of the thirteen runes, two were charging and he could feel the pressure rising. Harry was quiet, his brow frowned in concertation while Jean who had passed out at some point laid there with a serene smile on her face as if having the most beautiful dream. When the two runes finished charging making seven, there was a spike of energy and the breeze became a wind whipping with in the pit making Harry's hair whip in different directions but he never stirred.

For about a minute, everything stayed like that and Charles started wondering whether something had happened to Harry to prevent him from completing the ritual. He shared a glance with Natasha who shrugged and went back to watching Harry. He was about to open his mouth to say something when the energy spiked and the runes started charging at twice the pace from before. Sweat could be seen on Harry's brow showing just how much effort he was putting in.

Jean started twitching as the runes were covered by Harry's magic. By the time only two were remaining, she was thrashing around though the serene smile on her face didn't weaver. It was confusing and creepy at the same time.

Charles found himself leaning forward slowly as the last two runes started charging. The pressure in the room was too high he was having a hard time breathing but that was far from even registering in his brain as the tension seemed to reach a crescendo as the thirteenth rune charged and then everything went quiet. Charles blinked in confusion and exchanged a confused glance with the others even as Harry let out gasps as he gulped down oxygen.

"Uh…is that it?" Natasha asked Harry but he didn't answer right away. He stood up on his feet and staggered a little. Rogue made a movement to go to him but Logan's hand grabbed her.

"Whatever happens, do not come in here." Harry pinned them with his currently normal eyes.

For that reason, he did not see the fiery the bird which rose from Jean's chest. It looked exactly as Nym only this was made of fire and was about ten times the size of the beautiful pure white phoenix. Natasha and Rogue shouted at Harry to look out but it was already too late and the fiery bird let out a shriek of anger and flew right at Harry and met him just as he finished his turn.

Charles with his powers on high alert (even if it hadn't been on his conscious effort but the gathering of magic inside the ritual chamber) saw Harry's spirit being knocked out of his body before he disappeared and the phoenix settled inside the wizard's body. It opened its eyes and Charles gasped along with the others upon seeing them. While they were still the brilliant emerald they were supposed to be, the formerly white part of the eye was now blood red.

Charles felt dread settle in his stomach like a huge rock even as the others took fighting stances. He knew they were facing sure death; the phoenix alone was powerful enough to kill them within minutes. Now with of Harry's magic, it wouldn't take more than a blink of an eye. He closed his eyes and centered himself. He may be going to die but he was sure as hell going to make sure the entity worked for it.

However, whatever preparations happening were interrupted with murmuring coming from the other end of the chamber. Chares opened his eyes to see small creatures similar to the one Harry had introduced as Triki gathered together and seemed to be chanting in a soft musical voice they had no right to be capable of producing given their appearance. Whatever they were doing however seemed to be working. The phoenix was no longer advancing on them, it had stopped in tracks and a look of fear was plastered on Harry's face.

Harry's body seemed to be vibrating and the intensity seemed to be getting bigger as the chanting of the little creatures continued. The body's vibrations seemed to increase to the extent that it had become nearly a blur before the Phoenix was flung out of Harry's body similar to the way Harry had been with an explosion of magic which sent everyone flying. Charles himself was hurled through the door heading for the wall opposite but he was stopped mere inches from impact which would have otherwise broken a good number of bones.

He thanked the creature which he was sure had been responsible of saving him before he wheeled himself, the old-fashioned way back to the chamber. There was no sign of the Phoenix and Harry's was lying next to Jean's sleeping form. There was a transparent dome shaped shield around the two and streaks of lightning flashed across it every now and then.

"Is the bald old man okay?" a slightly high pitched voice asked and Xavier turned to see Triki standing next to him.

"I am fine. But what just happened."

"Dark Phoenix dared to takeover master's body." Triki growled in his little voice. "Triki and the others used the bond as well as master's bond with Nym to expel her."

"Oh… uhm so what happened to her?" Charles asked surprised at the devotion the little being seemed to exude when talking about Harry.

"Oh… she is where master was sent when she expelled him from his body." Triki answered with a grin which had Charles shivering slightly. The creatures funny looking face making the grin even more sinister. "I am sure master will be quite… _excited_ for the reunion."

It took a few seconds for Charles to work out where Triki was talking about before his eyes widened.

"The Astral Plane!"

-ANLANLANLANL-

 **THE ASTRAL PLANE**

Harry looked around wide eyed. The moment he had been somehow expelled from his body, he had caught a small glimpse at the worried looks on the other people's faces before he felt a jerk like a port-key and then he was hurled through space until he found himself in this kind of world. It was bright but not blindingly so but almost everything he was seeing seemed to have some kind of sparkle. Humanoid shapes seemed to phase in and out of existence as they floated past him.

Strangely, the place had a feeling of _home?_ Harry had no idea what that could be about. Maybe he was dead, and this was where his soul would be recycled like Luna said, but did it have to be _bright_ …

"Harry?"

Harry jerked around at the familiar voice.

"Stephen… what are you doing here?"

The sorcerer supreme sighed and Harry could see that just like him, the Sorcerer Supreme was slightly transparent. Evidently more solid looking than a ghost as the colors of their clothes were very clear.

"I could ask the same about you as seeing from your expression you have no idea where you are." Stephen answered. "So what did you do this time?"

"Where is here anyway?"

"I think I am the one asking the questions here." Stephen said.

"Oh really, I could have sworn that I just did ask a question." Harry quipped. "And what did you mean by _this time?"_

"I don't know; does Limbo or Belasco ring any bells…" Stephen answered with mock inquisitiveness.

"I had nothing to do with that." Harry said heatedly. And it was the truth since Luna was the one who dumped them there. "Need I remind you that we were at your home."

"Nothing happens by itself in the mystic arts Harry, and I most definitely wasn't responsible for that." Stephen argued. "And why exactly did it happen only when you visited?"

"I don't think I am the right person to ask." Harry answered his lips twitching. "We could ask the portal…. oh wait it has no mouth."

Stephen gave him a blank look.

"If that was supposed to be funny, I pity the people you live with." He said dryly. "Now how did you end up in the Astral plane?"

"That's what it's called?"

"Yes, I would expect someone like you would know about it given your mastery in the myst… Magic."

"I have heard it being mentioned before." Harry frowned trying to remember. "But it was believed that it cannot be accessed consciously or without a potion to put one in a trance."

"Clearly that isn't the case seeing as I am here now." Stephen said.

"I can see that but thank you for pointing out." Harry answered dryly and Stephen rolled his eyes.

"The _Astral Dimension_ , much like the _Mirror Dimension_ , coexists alongside the Material Plane. However, to access it, one must successfully be separated from their physical form, existing in a state of pure energy." Stephen lectured. "The Masters of the Mystic Arts are very much able to peer into the Astral Dimension without leaving their bodies, or leave their bodies and occupy the Astral plane for longer periods of time compared to the normal dimension. As you can see, I was reading a book before I thought I saw someone being pulled to the higher parts of the dimension where souls are believed to go after one dies, at least that is what the people of Wakanda believe."

Harry had been listening intently as the sorcerer supreme explained. He had no idea what the Mirror Dimension meant but he at least had a very good idea where he was. Then a realization hit him.

"I need to get back to my body." He said grabbing Stephen's hand. "A Dark phoenix is now occupying and it was the one that knocked me out of my body."

Stephen's eyes widened. He of course knew about the dark phoenix and he could only imagine what it could do with Harry's power. He had witnessed just how much Harry was capable of and he shuddered to think of facing an amalgamation of Harry and the Dark phoenix. However, before he could say anything, there was a shift in the Astral plane, even Harry who wasn't as adept as Strange felt it. He opened his mouth to ask what was going on only to be interrupted as something humanoid appeared a few meters in front of him.

"I think we found our body thief." Stephen helpfully pointed out as the two turned to look at the humanoid fiery entity before them. "Just what have you been doing Harry."

" _ **YOU DARE STAND IN MY WAY MORTAL"**_ the phoenix growled, its guttural voice resonating around them with power and anyone would have wet their pants. None of the two sorcerers even flinched.

"You made a very big mistake trying to hijack my body." Harry said narrowing his eyes as his wand appeared in his hand and his suit started flowing onto his body.

The entity pointed its hands at them and a stream of fire erupted and rushed at the two sorcerers and snapped in place blocking the ridiculously hot flame. Harry who was trying to see through the flames in front of the shield looked at his left as Stephen's cloak whisked him away but before he could react the Phoenix flashed in front of him and grabbed him by the neck. He could feel his ethereal neck blistering at the contact but with his mind already in battle mode, he instinctively slapped his palms that were charged with raw magic onto the entity's chest and it was blasted away from him.

Right into about five spears of mystic energy that had been conjured Strange. It let out a bone shaking howl of anger and sent a hail of fireballs. Strange moved his hands in an intricate pattern and the slightly more solid looking eye of Agamotto glowed green. The fireballs seemed to freeze in motion before they started flying backwards at twice the speed. When they connected with the fiery entity, it let out another cry though this was a mixture of anger and pain as it was burned by its own fireball.

The Eye of Agamotto still glowing, Strange right before it, his hands glowing the same green as the Eye and encased the howling entity in a cocoon of sorts. The energy from the Eye reversing time in that particular cocoon and everything in it which meant de-aging the Phoenix and thus reducing its power since the older the entity, the more powerful it was.

Despite the draining going on, the Phoenix was still a very powerful entity and gathering its power, it collected a ball of condensed magic strong enough to break through the cocoon on detonating which sent Strange flying with a gaping hole in his torso. The entity made to capitalize on its momentary victory before Strange's ethereal form could repair itself but Harry who had recovered from the burning of his neck appeared in its path and literary placed a white ball of magic in its torso.

Harry had realized that normal spells seemed not to work in this dimension and the only way he could fight was with either pure magic or soul based magic. He knew of very few soul based spells… runes and pure magic however, that was an entirely different story. The ball of magic made the Dark Entity shout in pain and Harry smiled at the irony of the being made of _fire_ being _burned._ And when the burning reached a crescendo, the ball exploded blowing a good chunk of the entity's fiery body.

Harry had teleported away when he felt the magic nearing the explosion and watched in grim satisfaction when the fiery body didn't repair itself right away. The fact that it was the souls of Harry and Stephen's souls which were here was an advantage to the two magic users unlike the Phoenix whose body was here. While their souls if completely destroyed would lead to their deaths, there was always a chance to heal even from a single cell.

Unfortunately for the Phoenix, it was here physically or as physical as an entity can be without a host. Any damage it received would be near fatal as even with its regenerative abilities, if the damage was too much for its abilities to catch up it would be destroyed. With Strange having _de-aged_ some of its power, the two Sorcerers had a way of destroying it. If it doesn't flee that is.

"Hey you're ok?" Harry asked the now healed Sorcerer Supreme.

"Yeah I'm good. You seem to have done some great damage." He commented even as he prepared himself for the fight. "If I can reduce more of its power, you can use whatever you did to destroy him."

Harry looked at the glowing Eye warily. Whatever power was within that thing was slightly familiar though he couldn't remember where he had felt it. However, he wasn't planning to be on the receiving end of it anytime soon.

"What do you want me to do?"

"If you can keep it from using its powers, I can encase it in a time cocoon and it wouldn't be able to break through." The Phoenix seemed to have gotten over its loss of part of its torso and was approaching the two.

"I have an idea." Harry started. "But you need to keep the fellow busy for some time."

"How much time are we talking?"

"A minute? Maybe two…. I am not entirely sure." Harry called out as he flew away from the angry phoenix.

"And how do you suggest I do that?" Strange asked sending chains made of mystical energy at the entity's legs.

"I don't know… maybe call for a 'time out'"

Harry flew away from the fight and winced slightly as the Phoenix yanked on the chains while ignoring its melting hands and grabbed Stephen by the neck with one hand while tearing off his right hand with the other. He ignored the cries of pain and concentrated on the runic prison designed specifically to imprison spirits. It wouldn't hold something as powerful as the Phoenix for very long but hopefully, it would be enough time for Stephen to do his thing with his necklace.

There was an explosion of light where the fight was going on and Stephen's form went flying towards him. He grabbed him by the leg as he flew past where he was floating, ending his flight.

"Please take your time." The Sorcerer Supreme snapped as he flew back towards the entity, his hand having recovered up to near the elbow. Harry didn't answer as he started pumping magic into the completed prison. With how large his core had become after his transfer to this dimension and his use of the Elder wand, Harry had never even considered the thought of magical exhaustion but he knew that after this fight, he was sure he will be feeling it when he got back to his body.

" _I really don't think this is the time for fantasizing."_ Stephen's panicked voice shouted in his mind snapping Harry out of his musings to see that his makeshift prison was fully charged. He then flew off towards the fight to find the Phoenix holding Strange's head in its burning hands and Strange's mouth was open in a silent scream.

" _ **AVADA KEDAVRA"**_ Harry intoned the _soul-destroying_ curse and the green curse hit the Entity's shoulder blowing off its arm. It released Stephen and turned to Harry with furious eyes. _**"AVADA KEDVRA…AVADA KEDAVRA…AVADA KEDAVRA…AVADA KE**_ _ugh."

The Phoenix had been coming towards Harry, completely ignoring the chunks of its _body_ that were blown off by Harry's killing curses as it flew towards him. Harry had been trying to fly away but since he was going back towards the _soul prison_ while at the same time trying to hit the powerful entity, the Phoenix easily caught up with him and grabbed the very hand holding the Elder wand and tore it off as Harry was flung away from it. Harry was thrown towards the Souls Prison and barely saved himself from being caught. Just the fact that he had created the prison didn't mean he couldn't be caught by it since he was also a soul at this point. Harry flew around the prison and stood in front of the Phoenix with the prison in-between them as his remaining hand glowed white with pure magic. Fortunately, the prison was invisible except to the one who created it, until it had an occupant.

The Phoenix sent a volley of fireballs at Harry who dodged them as much as possible but was caught by a good number of them and his spiritual body developed holes wherever he was hit. He ignored the pain as he kept dodging even as the Entity flew at ridiculously high speeds towards him. By this point both of his legs were missing, his chest had a gaping hole and lower part of the left side of his face was missing as well. Even his regeneration was taking longer but he persisted. He could feel himself getting weaker as more of the balls of fire hit his spirit.

And then they abruptly cut off.

" _Stephen, NOW"_ He never even realized that he had projected his voice telepathically. A number of telepaths on earth heard the shout in his mind, many wondering what was going on, while a few sharp ones figured out where it was coming from. Among these were Charles Xavier back in Wales and Selene Gallio also known as the Black Queen by the Hellfire Club in New York. While not as powerful as Charles, it was the amount of power behind those two words that would bring all kinds of attention to him, but that wasn't here.

Stephen who had not been doing very well either after the Entity had nearly killed him forced himself into action as the entity struggled against the magic holding it. His head missing almost three thirds, Stephen tapped into the powers of the Eye of Agamotto and directed it into Harry's Soul prison. The Dark Phoenix struggled and thrashed as it millenniums of its life were negated within seconds, its fiery body reducing in intensity as more of its years were cut off, its body reducing in size the more it lost its power.

Harry could see Strange as he strained to direct that much amount of power from the stone while making sure that it did not go out of control and realized just how dangerous the necklace could be if it fell in the wrong hands or someone not strong enough to control the amount of power it was capable of producing. Knowing his part was coming, Harry pulled himself together knowing the next spell he was going to use would need a good deal of magic and just as much will to control and direct it. When the Phoenix was the size of a ten-year old kid, it reverted back to its bird shaped form and Stephen stopped tapping into the Eye.

" _ **IGNIS DIABOLUS"**_ Harry clearly intoned the incantation for Fienfyre and the cursed flame made from dark magic spewed from Harry's wand towards the fiery phoenix. The fire was too powerful that it was capable of burning a soul. Harry maintained the connection of the fire to his wand which allowed greater control on the cursed flame. The flame took the form identical to the phoenix it was going to burn and encased it. The Phoenix though wasn't about to go off without a fight as it flared its remaining power which was still much and exploded out of the cursed flame's grip.

Harry increased the power and will in the flame which collected itself and reformed into a lion while at the same time becoming hotter if that was even possible. The huge lion pounced on the phoenix and started tearing off chunks of its fiery body. Within a half a minute, the Lion had consumed the powerful entity and there was nothing left of it. Harry had to increase the amount of will he was putting on the flame to be able to dispel it. He panted from exhaustion and turned to look at Stephen who was still panting from his own destruction and tapping into the Eye's power.

"It isn't a good idea to lose consciousness in the astral plane as you could just die." Stephen cautioned. "Better you get back to your body and let your soul heal with time."

And with that, the weary Sorcerer Supreme hurtled towards his body even as his soul started healing. Harry looked at the holes in his astral body and wondered what one would be capable of with his soul as _damaged_ as his looked. However, he knew that he would never be able to find out as the moment he got back to his body, he was sure he would be out of it for some time due to magical exhaustion.

Thinking of going back to his body, Harry felt his soul being hurtled back to where he had come from. He saw buildings appear before him and he passed through them until he reached Potter's Cove. He reached in time to see the audience he had left behind picking themselves from the ground and Triki grinning at Charles.

Harry floated between Charles and Logan who were watching the unconscious bodies down in the pit but couldn't reach them due to the barrier. He could see that his was slightly paler than normal. He waited when everyone had gathered themselves and were now watching waiting for something to happen. He decided to try something and wished that his Astral form could be seen in the physical world and then spoke.

"It is pretty humbling, isn't it?" The reaction was even better than he expected. Triki jumped almost a meter high while Rogue gave one glance ant his Soul and fainted. Natasha had two guns pointing at him in a blink of an eye while Xavier jerked in his wheelchair as if he had been electrocuted. Logan for his part cut right through him with his knives since he was nearest but the knives obviously just passed through his astral form. Al this time Harry managed to suppress his laughter, something he had learned when he didn't want to be caught for his prank but his green eyes were twinkling.

"Looking at your corpse like that somehow makes death look like a joke." He continued as if nothing had happened though he was wondering how Xavier, had not felt him given how powerful a telepath he is.

"Harry, what are you playing at…" Natasha growled at him being the first to relax. She had spent a good amount of time around him and in the library whenever his beating…uhm _training_ was finished not many things about him surprised her anymore.

"Well, it's not every day that you see ghosts." Harry answered with a shrug. "I haven't seen one in this universe and Potter Cove is like a beacon which should pull any that exist on this planet."

"How come I didn't feel your Astral form?" Charles asked after he had calmed down his heart.

"I'm not sure." Harry answered truthfully. While he suspected it was his bond with the Invisibility cloak, he wasn't about to tell him that. Not even Natasha knew about that yet she was the one who knew the most about him in this Universe.

"Anyway, the big bad phoenix has been dealt with." Harry said as he went down into the pit.

"What happened to you?" Ororo asked looking at his missing right hand and half of his legs as well as the holes in his _body_.

"Oh this, no need to worry yourselves." Harry said dismissively. "Anyway, Jean should be completely free when she wakes up though I expect there to be some side effects from the possession."

"Like?" Logan prompted.

"I can't be sure… she may retain some of the phoenix's powers." Harry answered uncertainly. "And there is a very small possibility of getting a magical core or at least be capable of using the mystic arts."

"You mean like you?" Charles asked making sure to hide the astonishment he felt at the news.

"Yeah, but like I said, it is a very small possibility. Anyway, the house elves will take you back to the mansion as well as Jean." Harry said. "I will be by to check on her as well as check on Illyana when I wake up."

"How long do you think you will be… asleep?" Natasha asked having read about magical exhaustion.

"A week, three days…. I can't be sure but I'll be sure to pay you a visit."

"Ok, I'll be seeing you around then." Natasha answered and after sparing a worried glance at his Soul that was standing next to his unconscious body, she turned and left. Harry had turned her communication mirror into a reusable port-key with two destinations. The bridge of the Helicarrier, living room of her apartment in New York and here.

The house elves then directed the others to the teleporting room as well as the two unconscious teenagers. Where Rogue had fallen, there was a silver locket and Harry assumed it was her possession that she had brought for him to enchant. Unfortunately, he would not be doing any enchanting any time soon so she had to wait. He then told Triki to 'pop' his body to his bedroom and covered. After setting the temperature of the room to the most comfortable using the temperature regulation runes on one of the walls, Triki left his master to his devices.

Harry spared one more glance at his Soul, looking at the damage he had taken from the Dark Phoenix. Hadn't it been the help of Doctor Strange, Harry was pretty sure that the battle would have been a hell lot different. While he would have been brought back to life, the ten innocent souls that would be taken in his place would have been on his shoulders. The fact that some parents would be forced to lose their children, to not know the joy of watching their son/daughter grow…

He had been through that and he wouldn't wish someone else to go through the same. He briefly wondered how it would have been like if things had gone differently. How life would have been with him and Daphne raising the twins. He was damn sure he would have spoilt them. Everything he had wished for as a child would have been present for them. But life had been as cruel as it was wont to be most of the time.

Harry shook his head. Living in what ifs was useless. Sirius was probably rolling in his grave, if given the chance, his adoptive father_ if he could be called _father_ _ would have pranked him to the moon and back if he caught him thinking in terms of _what if_. Concentrating slightly, Harry's left hand became more solid and grabbed the locket around his body's neck. A hissed command had it opening showing the two photos on either side. Daphne glaring at the person holding the camera who also happened to be her sister, Astoria.

Closing the locket and panting slightly from the effort of keeping his Astral form solid, Harry stepped back and willed his soul back into his body. The experience was…jarring for lack of a better word. When he felt that he had gained back control, Harry felt like he was under a pile of rocks as he couldn't even move a finger. He decided to forget about that and sank into the comforting world of Morpheus.

-ANLANLANLANL-

When Harry opened his eyes, he was standing in his study back at Peverell Manor. His heart leapt as he knew that he was going to meet his kids and sure enough, a mop of black hair peered into the room.

"Will you get in already; you know very well we only appear in the same dream when he is here." Mia's voice complained from behind her twin brother and Harry chucked.

"Hey guys..." Harry greeted as the two ran and gave him a bone crushing group hug. "My, look how you two have grown."

Indeed, they had grown in the last year if the magical calendar in the study was right. Mia was now taller than Hadrian by a few inches and almost all of the baby fat had disappeared from her face. She was quite athletic, probably from quiditch and was growing out to be very beautiful just like her mother, not to mention her chest was way much more developed than any twelve-year old had any right to be. Hadrian on the other hand had no traces of baby fat at all, he looked even more athletic than his sister and he seemed to be developing some muscles.

"It has been so long Dad." Mia's voice was slightly accusatory and Hadrian nodded in agreement.

"Sorry guys but you know I don't control it though I have an idea." Harry apologized and then messed their hair. "But to me it has been barely two months anyway."

"No fair." Hadrian pouted and his sister whacked him on the head.

"Act your station you moron." She admonished looking down on him.

Harry chuckled as they started arguing. A few seconds later he interrupted them.

"So, how have you guys been?"

"We are fine Dad." Mia answered with a smile. "And I was top in the year last year."

"You mean _we_ were the top." Hadrian pipped in with a grin.

"You were simply taking half of the answers from my head." Mia argued.

"Yeah, well you took the other half from me."

"I didn't take _half_. They were only _three_ questions."

"Just how long do you guys take without arguing." Harry asked with a laugh and the two blushed.

"So, why are you at home…I expected us to meet near the lake at Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"The school was closed when there was an attempted attack on the headmistress two weeks ago on Halloween." Hadrian answered and Harry looked at them over in concern and the two smiled.

"Don't worry dad, no student was injured." Mia assured him. "The attackers however…"

The two shuddered slightly in remembrance and Harry frowned again. What could have happened to make them react like this but he didn't ask, he figured they would tell him if they wanted.

"What about Hermione, is she ok?"

"Oh she was brilliant." Hadrian exclaimed. "I never thought she could be that scary."

"Not even a single spell hit her or the students." Mia continued.

"In fact, not even the teachers got time to raise draw wands."

"The moment the five blew the doors to the great hall…."

"Aunt Hermione leaped to her feet and within seconds…"

"Four of them were dead and one was bound…."

"He was wrapped from head to toe like those mummies of Egypt."

"In fact we only saw what exactly happened in a pensieve." Mia concluded.

Harry blinked at his kids blankly and they blushed furiously. It would seem that they hadn't even realized that they had been speaking in sync. Shaking his head, he had them tell him as much detail as possible but they seemed to believe that everything was fine as they were even going back to school the next. Harry however had a bad feeling about what he had been told. Something at the back of his mind told him that he was going to do something very stupid in the near future.

Harry shook such thoughts from his mind and decided to enjoy the time he was having with his kids. They laughed as they talked about pranks they somehow managed to perform together despite being in different houses, they talked about their friends and Mia teased Hadrian about the Zabini twins. Apparently Blaise and Hermione had a pair of twin girls that were in the year below them.

Hadrian surprisingly didn't argue that he had a crush on the twins. Both of them. Harry had laughed when Hadrian blushed so hard he would make a ripe tomato look green. Hadrian had then teased Mia about her fan club which incidentally had both boys and girls, mostly girls and were all having crushes on her. The conversation had moved from school to Quiditch, to home until they reached training.

"Dad, we want you teach us how to fight." Mia had stated seriously.

"Sure. Can we begin now…" Harry simply stated putting Mia down who had somehow ended up in his lap. The two blinked at him apparently thrown for a loop. "What?"

"Aren't you going to tell us how young we are and how not safe it is?" Hadrian asked in confusion.

"Of course not." Harry looked insulted at the idea. "That is for your mother, she is the responsible one, now get moving."

Harry barked and fired a stinging hex at Hadrian who was still looking at him. The boy showed his seeker reflexes as he dodged the hex just mere seconds before it reached his face.

"Always remember that the best defense in a fight is not to get hit. And I am not going to teach you how to duel, I am going to teach you how to fight." Harry said as he looked at two pairs of Emerald eyes looking back at him in determination. "There are so many spells and hexes that you would be hard pressed to know all. While a shield is good, there some spells designed specifically to pass through magical shields. So it's better to just avoid getting hit."

"Are you ready?" He got nods in reply. "Then let's begin."

Harry started firing off very mild stinging hexes at the two twelve-year olds while increasing the pace as time passed. Somehow, he knew that whatever they did here would be transferred to their physical forms when they woke. He had them dodge until they couldn't and them discussed with them the basic offensive spells like stunning, knock-back, Jelly legs, full body-binding, the bat-bogey hex and the rope conjuring hex. He made sure that they were capable of performing these spells both with incantations and silently.

The two were very powerful, even more powerful than he had been when he was their age, not to mention very bright given that they almost shared their brains. Therefore, in Harry's completely unbiased opinion, each one of the two used brain power enough for two twelve-year olds combined.

By the time they were finished with training, they were both very tired and snuggled on either side of Harry on a couch he had conjured and soon enough they were asleep. Harry regarded the two with a soft smile on his lips. It wasn't every day that he got the chance to unwind and laugh freely like everything was alright in the world. Harry treasured these moments he spent with the twins, and wished he could learn to control it so he could easily visit them.

That was when he was hit with an idea. Given his detour in the Astral plane, Harry been hit with many ideas concerning that dimension. If he was capable of visiting other dimensions, would it be out of the realm of possibility to be able to visit a different universe? After living around magic, the line between what was possible and what was not possible became blurry to the extent of almost disappearing. Therefore, it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility and Harry swore to himself that he would find a way of travelling from one universe to another by all means necessary.

-ANLANLANLANL-

Harry woke up feeling much better. He checked on his magic to see that about half of his core had been refilled. But that was probably because he hadn't been eating. A quick _Tempus_ showed him that it was just past noon. He looked at the enchanted calendar on his bedside table and wasn't surprised that it had been two weeks since he had gone to sleep. His magic had been near depleted and had only remained enough to keep him alive. He also theorized that most of it had gone to healing his soul and it was only now that it felt Harry's body was fit to function as usual.

After a shower and all that went with it, Harry sat down on the dining table and consumed a meal fit for three and as much treacle tart afterwards. He then went to the training room which had reverted back to its basic shape and flexed his magic a little. After, he went and did a few laps around his property despite the cold weather as the temperature in Wales had started dropping but he didn't enter the forest.

Harry knew that the forest currently surrounding his property had all sorts of animals both magical and non-magical. His property was like a beacon that seemed to compel anything with the slightest magic that was not human to come to it. He had therefore put another layer of wards around his home just to keep out the dangerous ones though they were still within the main wards. He often visited the forest to pick potion ingredients that were not grown in his greenhouse and didn't want to risk running into something that would rip him apart.

After he was satisfied, he went back to the house and called Natasha and informed her that he was awake. She promised to drop by sometime tomorrow after she had made sure that he was alright and hadn't been affected by his soul being ripped apart. How she was going about that, he had no idea. He had asked her how much she had told Fury but she just told him it wasn't her story to tell which earned her n appreciative smile. Harry could have sworn he saw a slight dust of pink on her pale cheeks but then again it could have been a figment of his imagination.

Harry ten went back and started enchanting Rogue's necklace. He hadn't bothered opening to see what was inside as he believed it was private and no sane man would wish to see what a teenage girl considers private. He put as many enchantments as the silver locket could take without collapsing on itself. He made sure that it fed on her powers to function though it wouldn't have any effect on them in the long run.

No one other than Rogue could remove it and if anyone touched it with the intention to remove it, they would be knocked. In case it is a mutant, their powers would be absorbed like they would have if touched by Rogue herself and the person wouldn't be able to use their powers for the next twenty-four hours. Harry enchanted it so it could protect Rogue from any mind attacks in any form and was also a port key to Potter's Cove.

Harry could think of so many other enchantments he could have put on the locket if it had been a more magic receptive metal. Like allowing her to control the power she used and the capability to turn it off and on with a thought but he decided to wait until he got something better.

When he presented the enchanted locket to the girl and told her what it was capable of, he got the life squeezed out of him and the girl barely stopped herself from kissing him. When she asked him why he had gone to all the trouble for someone he hardly knew, Harry honestly answered her.

"When I was young, I was belittled and abused for something I had no control over. I was called many names and Freak was the least offensive but it was all because of what I was and had no control over. I contemplated suicide and tried it more than once but my magic just wouldn't let me. I will not say that I know exactly what you go through but I have a very good idea as I went through something similar. And what is to say that I couldn't have been in your place."

"But the fact is, you had no choice in deciding who you would be born as. Not to mention that I have the capability to help one as beautiful as yourself and so I did. That beautiful smile, I want to see it every day and not for it to be covered by the fear that you could easily kill an innocent or loved by a single touch."

By the time he left, Rogue had developed a crush on him. But that didn't even register in his mind as Nym swooped down on his shoulder and they disappeared in a flash of lightning. When the lightning cleared, he was back at Potter Cove and he was staring an unexpected sight.

"Illyana?"

-ANLANLANLANL-

AN: Well, there goes chapter ten. And just to be clear, I am not very familiar with the Astral plane so I built on the little I knew to get what I wanted. If something I wrote was wrong, please feel free to drop your advice so I can do better in the future.

Anyway, next chapter we shall hopefully get on with the Avengers so keep reading and revieving.


	11. Chapter 11

**A NEW LIFE**

 **Chapter 11**

 _Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners._

-ANLANLANLANL-

"I don't trust him."

Natasha chocked on her donut as she fought against a snort and Clint patted her on the back. She had grown quite fond of them having gotten the habit from Harry. The wizard tended to have a box of donuts nearby whenever he was working on something or just bored. For some reason, Triki seemed to be obsessed with making them and therefore made sure that Harry had something to keep his mouth occupied for the most time which meant that there was always a box waiting as they trained.

Natasha had made a mistake and asked him for a bite after her curiosity got better of her and she had fallen in love or more like become addicted. Harry had given express orders for the elves to deliver a box to her every morning and she liked to think that he was hopping that she gets fat so he cannot be distracted. Then again, she had never had of someone becoming obese due to eating too many donuts.

"Well that is new." Clint stated dryly looking in the window of the Helicarrier towards New York in the distance.

"I think you are being too hard on him." Natasha answered after she had calmed down. "Harry, as far as I'm aware has no intention of operating outside his little home."

"Then what the hell is he doing with the X-men?" Fury growled and Natasha nearly rolled her eyes.

"He is mutant too. Or have you forgotten already."

"I damn well haven't forgotten but he is just too powerful for my liking." Nick continued. "We have absolutely no idea on how to contain him in case he decides he wants the world to worship him."

Natasha just shook her head and picked another donut. She had learned quite a lot about Harry during whatever time she spent at Potter Cove and she was absolutely sure that Harry was probably the only person with that much power who wouldn't want someone to worship. Someone who wasn't a woman in his bed that is.

"Either way, he could be a great addition to the Avengers Initiative." Coulson pointed out. "The issue is about if he will join or not."

The rest of the members looked at her for her opinion. She had been appointed, at Harry's insistence as the liaison between Harry and SHIELD.

"Harry has made it clear that if the world is threatened by an external threat, he would be there in a heartbeat." She explained. "However, he will not get himself involved in 'squabbles' with humans."

"And if the threat is a powerful human." Fury prompted.

"Then SHIELD would handle it."

"What has he been up to anyway?" Fury was quite frustrated that despite the time Harry had been here, there was still absolutely nothing known about him. He had tried to get Natasha to plant a few cameras around Potter Cove but she had assured him that they would be fried before she even reached the place by the magic generated by the port-key.

"Nothing much really." Natasha shrugged. "He has been trying to find a way of tracking any others like him but he hasn't had much success."

"There're others like him… I thought he was the only one?" Fury's eyes were calculating.

"Initially yes but apparently his arrival renewed… circulation of magic on the planet."

"I see." Fury stated with his mind formulating and discarding ideas. "What about the Rasputin girl who appeared recently at the Mansion after missing for months?"

"No idea, I haven't really talked to him in a while."

"Just how much is this guy capable of?" Clint asked as he took his seat next to Natasha.

"From what I have read…" Natasha answered. "Magic is capable of nearly anything so long as one has both the power and knowledge to use it. And Harry most definitely has both in spades."

Natasha had been fascinated by magic and had promised herself to read as many books from Harry's library as possible and she made sure that whenever she was at Potter Cove and wasn't beating up the owner of said house, she would spend that time reading about magic.

"I really wish he was more co-operative." Fury sighed. "Something tells me we are gonna need the Avengers soon yet the Council is still being stubborn."

Natasha had nothing to say about that and took a bite on yet another donut. Her instincts were telling her of an approaching conflict but she would be prepared for it. One thing she had learned and wasn't going to ignore anytime soon was following her instincts. Just like how they were telling her to get as close to Harry as possible. Or maybe it was something else…oh well at least she wasn't crushing on like the way that Anne girl had been. Yet.

-ANLANLANLANL-

Illyana hadn't been having the best time since her coming back. Granted, any situation would be better than virtually being Belasco's slave but she had been having hopes and dreams about when she managed to escape Belasco's claws. She had hoped that she would be welcomed, her family along with the X-men would be ecstatic and everything would be fine then. Her time in Limbo would be forgotten until it became no more than a figment of her imagination.

That had happened. At least at first it had. Everything had been right. The X-men were happy to see her, her brother Colossus was very glad to see her again, so were her parents. It was like she had just gone somewhere like a boarding school for the last seven months and had come back home. But after some time, two days to be exact, things started changing.

The first being her companions from Limbo, or their doppelgangers at the very least. Storm back in Limbo had been her mentor and role model while Cat was the best friend she hadn't been able to make even back on earth. They had become so close and she was sure she had developed a crush on the older mutant. However, coming back here, things were different. Ororo was nothing like the Storm of Limbo, and that was not just the fact that this one didn't use magic.

Cat or rather Kitty was younger than the young woman she remembered and barely knew anything about her except her being the younger sister of her teammate. As if that wasn't enough, Illyana could see that the mutants back at the mansion were clearly having a hard time conceding the fact that she had aged by seven years in seven months. And that was not even considering the fact that she was even mentally much older than fourteen.

"Er… could you pause just a moment please." Harry interrupted her tale standing up. "I desperately need to use the loo, just one minute."

And with that Harry ran out of the living room and when he reached the door he teleported away. Illyana looked around the room at the various electronics. On one side was a very big screen as well as huge music system. Next to it was a play station though it was clear it had never been used, or at least was used once and then discarded.

In the corner was a fridge while across the screen and behind the huge couch were two long tables from one end of the wall to the other. One had various electronics, a desktop computer, a battered laptop and many different parts of what she assumed were for a computer or laptop. There were also what looked like phone of different modes as well as other electronic stuff. Under that table were various boxes organized neatly.

The other table had a laptop and next to it was a small bookshelf with what looked like physics textbooks. Next to the laptop were various notebooks and_

Illyana was interrupted from her musings when Harry reentered the room holding a box full of donuts. Her stomach growled at the tantalizing smell coming from the box and she blushed furiously as Harry chuckled.

"It would seem that my 'visit to the loo' will benefit us both." Harry said and placed the box on the couch between them. "I placed a replacing rune at the bottom so the box will not be running out anytime soon though I don't know how long the magic I put will last in here."

"You can do that?" Illyana asked surprised that magic could do that.

"Of course. While I can't conjure food, I can easily multiply it." Harry explained smiling slightly. "So it is practically impossible for a wizard or witch to die of starvation though it does have some limits as well."

"Wow…" Illyana sighed at both the amazing taste of the donut and what magic could do.

"What…you thought magic was only about fighting?"

Illyana blushed slightly as that was exactly what she had thought. It was the only magic she had learned from Storm after all.

"I just didn't think it could do something so… mundane I guess." She admitted as shit picked her second donut. She hadn't even realized how hungry she had been. She hadn't in fact had any time to enjoy a meal at all comfortably.

"Yeah I can hardly imagine Belasco teaching you how to make a kettle dance." Harry stated seriously. "Then again I can hardly imagine how such a mind works."

"Will I really be capable of doing what you do?" Illyana asked as she picked her fourth? Fifth? Donut.

"Of course. When we make the apprenticeship official, I will be obligated to teach almost everything I know." Harry leaned back and watching the clearly hungry girl demolish the donuts.

"Almost?"

"Almost." He said. "There some kinds of magic I can't teach you. Family magic being one of them."

"What does that even mean?"

Ok now this was getting worrying.

"Back in my universe…'

"Your _universe_?" Illyana paused in her meal.

"Right, well you see I am not a native of this universe." Harry explained. "Due to certain…circumstances, I was forced to leave my universe behind and was dumped here."

The girl looked like she wanted to ask something but she nodded and continued eating.

"So, like I was saying, back home old families discovered or invented new kinds of magic and bound the magic to their bloodlines so_"

"They can do that?"

"Will you just let me explain first…"

The girl blushed and Harry rolled his eyes. He walked to the fridge and came back with a jug of orange juice and poured for Illyana a glass. Maybe if her mouth was occupied she wouldn't interrupt him.

"They bound the particular form of magic so that only members of their blood are capable of accessing such magic. They made_"

"Why…uhm sorry?" the girl squeaked at the look he gave her before she stuffed half a donut in her mouth.

"Anyway, while I think you may be able to perform the magic bound to my bloodlines, you will have to discover it by yourself as I can't teach it to someone not of my blood no matter how much I want."

This time Illyana waited until she was sure Harry wasn't going to speak again before she spoke out.

"How many bloodlines do you possess?"

"Three. Potter, Black and Peverell and I guess Evans but that is a minor one." Harry saw that the girl was stuffed and there were remaining only two donuts. Apparently the magic in the refilling rune had finally lost against the dampening of the room.

Harry walked out of the door and cast a quick _tempus_ and was surprised to find that it was 9pm. The lights having been switched on while he was busy with Illyana that he hadn't even noticed. He asked an elf to bring a blanket for the girl as while the room was a bit warm despite the lack of magic, it was still not warm enough. He went back and gave the girl the blanket who thanked him and rested back on the couch. Now that Harry could see that she was comfortable, he waited for her to continue her tale.

-ANLANLANLANL-

Right after they had gone back to the mansion from Harry's fight with Jean, Illyana had excused herself and using a teleporting disc, she had teleported back to Russia to the backyard of her parents' home. Right on top of her grave. _Her grave._

Harry nodded vigorously to show that he understood the gravity of what she was talking about.

After she had gotten over her shock of standing above _her grave_ , Illyana had introduced herself to her parents. It had taken some convincing for them to agree that she was indeed who she was talking about but after that they were happy to have their daughter back. Apparently despite the fact that Colossus had told them about her, they were still not sure.

Life had been normal for the first week. Her parents were adjusting to having their daughter back despite her age and she was trying to adjust to living life without the threat of dying any minute. Then the nightmares had started. Memories of her life back in Limbo started haunting her nights and she could see that her parents were worried about her. They had advised her to see a therapist put she refused, sure that she could handle herself just like she has been doing for the last seven years.

Then it wasn't just the night but also her waking hours. Due to lack of sleep her temper was on high, her emotions were all over the place and she couldn't feel comfortable anymore. Then she had started having hallucinations and her parents worry increased. However, she could see that there was more than worry in their eyes, there was also fear. She had become so familiar with this particular emotion back in Limbo as it is what existed when anyone was brought before Belasco.

Therefore, no matter how minute the fear was, she could very well tell that they were afraid of her. Afraid that she may snap one day and do things to them. As if the fact that _her parents_ were afraid of her was not enough, they had started whispering behind her back. And then today she had found them making plans of sending her for treatment. And she had _snapped._

"I… I didn't mean t…to attack them." Illyana sobbed in Harry's chest. "I just felt something me snap. I wanted to _hurt_ them. To make them suffer for _daring_ to think that I was insane."

"Shh, it will be fine." Harry rubbed the girl's back comfortingly.

"I tossed them around the room." She continued, still sobbing. "Then I broke their legs and I _enjoyed_ their screams."

Harry continued rubbing her back as the girl cried while his mind tried to figure out what the problem was. He could clearly see how distraught the girl was from what she had done to her parents. Her time in Limbo had affected her way more than was apparent. Inwardly, he cursed himself for not having considered it in the first place. There was no way anyone could be in such a place for as long as the fourteen-year old blonde in his arms had been without being affected. Either physically or mentally.

"And then I felt like some kind of haze had lifted from my mind." The girl said quietly. "I am no different like _Him_ "

 _Nym if you can hear me, send me a house-elf with a glass of water with a dreamless sleep potion._ Harry sent the mental command as he pulled the girl from his chest.

"Listen to me very well Illyana." Harry said gently looking at the girl's teary blue eyes. "You are nothing like that monster and you will never become like him if I have anything to say about it you hear me?"

The girl nodded shakily, surprised at the determination she could see in his emerald eyes. The house-elf appeared at the door with the glass of water and brought it to Harry.

"I want to thank you for trusting me with this Illyana." Harry stated seriously. "And I promise you we, me and you will figure out a way to help you alright?"

"Alright,"

"Good, now take this glass of water and get some rest. Then tomorrow we shall see what we can do." Harry handed her the glass which she took with shaky hands. It was a good thing the dreamless sleep potion was both colorless and tasteless, at least the ones he made so Illyana didn't even realize her water had been tampered with.

"Thank you Harry." She mumbled sleepily as she snuggled into his chest and promptly fell asleep.

"No, thank

"Thank you Harry." She mumbled sleepily as she snuggled into his chest and promptly fell asleep.

"No, thank _you_ Illyana for the trust you showed in me." Harry whispered to the sleeping girl.

Thinking back on what she had been through, Harry could imagine just how hard it was for her to trust him with everything she had told him. Having been on her own for the last seven years, it would be too hard to ever trust anyone, something he had experience about.

It wasn't until he met Sirius after inflating Aunt Mage before the start of his third year that Harry even considered trusting anyone no less an adult. It is no surprise therefore that he decided to organize a way of getting Sirius a trial without involving Dumbledore or even any of the professors at Hogwarts. It had taken a year and a half when he became tri-wizard champion but he nonetheless got his god-father, and later adoptive father the trial he had never been given.

He had then latched on Sirius as the person he trusted most and had no problem sharing anything with him and perhaps, Illyana was doing the same here with him. Either way, he would do everything in his power to help the girl and make sure that she reached her full potential.

"She is capable of even surpassing you." Luna said as she appeared before him. "Her path is very dark. More than yours would have been had you not met Sirius like the way you did. Therefore, it is up to you to shape what her future will be like."

"I will not fail her." Harry promised to himself.

"I know you won't Harry." Luna said with a smile. "Just be prepared for one hell of a journey."

"What do you mean by that." Harry questioned the older girl with narrowed eyes.

"Now that would be telling." Luna grinned at him before giving him a wink and disappearing.

Harry felt like screaming in frustration but held back reminding himself that he wasn't alone in the house like he was used to. He gently carried the girl who was snoring lightly and carried her out of the room and when he reached the door, he teleported to one of the bedrooms on the third floor and placed her on the bed. He transfigured the bedsheets and bed cover to make them more comfortable and hit them with air freshening charms making them smell like lavender.

He then transfigured her dress along with whatever she was wearing underneath into pajamas and covered the girl as she burrowed into the pillows. He conjured for her slippers when she woke up. After setting the temperature of the room to something more comfortable, he dimmed the lights until it was just a glow then closed the door. He however set an alert ward on her bed to inform him when she woke up.

A quick _Tempus_ told him it was almost midnight and after a quick shower, he also went to sleep knowing he would be very busy the next day.

-ANLANLANLANL-

Illyana slowly opened her eyes as she came back to the world of the living. Some light was streaming through the window into the room but she wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep. It had been the most peaceful she had ever since she had been rescued from Limbo. Even when she back at her childhood home with her parents… _her parents._

Illyana snapped her eyes open and sat up in the ridiculously comfortable bed. She looked around, not recognizing where she was. The dull green walls weren't familiar she looked at her attire, pink pajamas which she didn't remember putting on before going to sleep. Panicking, she looked around for her clothes but a melodious trill drew her attention and her eyes met electric blue eyes that were regarding her with amusement. Nym.

She slumped back onto the bed as the events of last night came back to her. Her attack on her parents being very vivid in her memory. When she had gotten herself back in control, the only one she could think about was Harry. Somehow it felt… right, like she could trust him with her deepest secret and he wouldn't be disgusted or scared of her. She was sure that he would be capable of protecting her was probably the only person who could help her.

She hadn't told him everything though. Like the fact that whenever she uses her teleporting discs she catches a glimpse of Limbo. Or the fact that when she tried to teleport to Russia she ended up in Limbo. She had panicked and had immediately summoned another teleportation disc that deposited her on her grave. But that wasn't possible. She had tried that back when she was still trapped under Belasco and her teleportation discs hadn't been able to get back to earth.

Somehow, she got the impression that Harry knew she wasn't telling him everything but thankfully he hadn't called her on it. However, she would tell him when the time was right and he would help her but at this point, she would have to keep a few things herself. She looked around for her clothes once again but couldn't see them and she briefly wondered if Harry had been the one to dress her up.

Blushing, she got out of the covers and went to what was clearly a bathroom. She eased herself and was looking for where to flush but the toilet flashed the moment she stood up startling her. She tried to look around for any sign of how that had happened but her were interrupted when her stomach growled loudly and she decided to solve that mystery another time.

She slowly walked out of the room and went down the stairs following the smell of food. The one room on the second floor labeled library and after giving the door a longing look, she continued down to the first floor and passed by the room they had been for their talk as well as two bedrooms and what was labeled public bathroom.

Going down the stairs, she reached the ground floor and entered the door nearest the stairs into the dining room. She spared the entrance way and the odd shaped umbrella stand a glance and entered the dining room. There was a long table where Harry was seated digging in with gusto which currently had only four chairs. There was an assortment of dishes and she felt her mouth watering as she settled on one of the chairs on Harry's right.

"Good morning Illyana." Harry greeted with a smile. "Had a good night?"

"Yeah." She answered as she started digging in. "For some reason, I never had even one single nightmare."

"Yeah, I may have had something to do with that." Harry admitted surprising her. "There is a potion called the dreamless sleeping potion which does exactly as its name suggests and I may have put it in your water."

"Oh…. I mean thank you very much, I have never had such a restful night in my life" Illyana said honestly.

"Yeah I figured you would have an even harder time to sleep after yesterday, but it will not be there every day so we shall have to see what we can do about your nightmares." She nodded in disappointment.

They settled in a comfortable silence as they both demolished what had been put on the table. She wondered if Harry had made the meal himself as she hadn't met anyone else.

"Uhm, what will you be doing today…" Illyana asked before she added swiftly "…that is if you don't mind me asking."

"Of course not… and I will be paying your parents a visit." Harry answered. "Do you want to come, I mean you don't have to, I am just going to talk to them and make sure they are fine and know that you are ok."

"I… am not sure I am ready to face them." Illyana said hesitantly, she didn't want to sound pathetic or a coward but until she knew she wasn't about to attack them, she will try to stay away from anyone. There was also the bonus that Harry would be able to handle her in case she went bizzaro on him.

"That is fine." Harry assured her with a comforting smile knowing very well what she was thinking. "Triki!"

The house elf in question appeared with a small 'pop' making Illyana jump.

"This is Triki, he is a house-elf and the leader of the others." Harry explained. "They are my friends and they are the ones who keep this place in order. So if you want anything just call for him and any questions you have, he will be more than happy to answer isn't that right?"

"Yes master, it would be my pleasure to interact with the young miss." Triki answered in his little voice.

"So, he will be showing you around while I am away and Natasha will probab_"

"Natasha?"

"A friend of mine and she will likely arrive before I come back and she can also answer any questions Triki may not."

With that, Harry left the two and went probably to change. A, minute later, he came back wearing a black stylish trench coat, black jeans and black V-neck t-shirt. The look was completed with black boots and a white and black scarf.

"Well, I'll be off, it shout be about 11am in Russia so I am safe." Harry told her and Nym flashed landed on his shoulder and they disappeared in a flash of lightning.

It was only after they had gone that Illyana remembered that she was still wearing pajamas and had no idea where her clothes were.

"Er… Triki, you wouldn't know where my clothes are would you?"

The elf tilted its head slightly before it snapped its fingers and Illyana's pajamas transformed into the dress she had been wearing when she came here.

"Wow, you can do magic… how does it even work?" she asked and the elf started explaining about its kind until Natasha arrived.

-ANLANLANLANL-

 _ **Urst-Ordynsky, Siberia, RUSSIA.**_

Harry appeared in a flash in the middle of the street and was promptly ignored due to the notice-me-not bubble he had around himself. There was little activity going on and there was a mild snowfall while the ground had a small layer of snow.

Harry ignored everything going on and focused on the house directly in front of him with the mail box labeled _Rasputin._ There was some activity going on as people entered and left the house. Harry smiled slightly when he saw Charles exit the house followed by Illyana's brother. He dispelled the Notice-me-not and strolled forward. Nym having gone back the moment he arrived.

"Professor, what a pleasant surprise." Harry stated as he greeted the bald telepath.

"Harry…" Charles blinked at the presence. "I dare say you are the last person I expected to see here."

"Oh, and why is that, Illyana is supposed to be my apprentice after-all."

"So, it was really her who did it?" Illyana's brother asked and Harry looked at him.

"You must be Peter; I don't think we have been properly introduced." He said offering his hand. "Harry Potter is the name and I'm sorry about what happened to your parents."

"Nice to meet you, sir." Peter or Colossus replied. "But why would she that to them?"

"She didn't." Harry stated. "At least not intentionally."

"What do you mean?"

"Could we have this conversation from somewhere else." Harry said glancing at the people who were watching the trio discreetly. "Better yet could with the parents, I don't want to explain myself twice."

"Of course." Charles said. "Actually we just arrived and we were just going to check on them."

The trio entered the _Black Bird_ and flew to Moscow where the Rasputins had been admitted. They easily found where ta park the huge ship and soon were at the hospital. With a bit of creative telepathy, they soon found themselves with the bandaged parents. Both of which had their legs held up and in bandages. Nikolai had his right arm also in a sling.

"Alexandra, Nikolai I sorry we had to meet again under such circumstances." Charles greeted the two.

"Hello Charles, I am sorry about Illyana. We only wanted to help her." The man answered in accented English.

"I understand. And this is Mr. Potter…" He said gesturing at Harry. "He is the man responsible for rescuing your daughter I think he can shed light on what happened yesterday."

"Yes, well I am sorry about what happened and I would like you to know that Illyana hadn't been herself when she attacked you." Harry said.

"We assumed as much." Alexandria who had been quiet thus far spoke up surprising them. "Her eyes were glowing and she couldn't even hear us as we screamed for her to stop. I just hope she is fine."

"I assure you she is ok and I will be doing whatever I can to make sure something like that doesn't happen." Harry assured them.

"But I don't understand." Peter said. "Why did she come to you and not any of us she is more familiar with."

"I imagine she wanted someone she was sure would be capable of restraining her in case it happened again." Not to mention it was easier as she just called my companion to pick her rather than teleporting herself."

"But who are you exactly." Nikolai asked. "Why are you so interested in her?"

"Because she is like me." Harry said simply conjuring a bunny in his hands and transfiguring it into a small cat before he changed it to a banquet of flowers and placed them on the table between their beds. "I am a wizard who can wield magic to do almost anything and your daughter is just like me. It on that note therefore that I ask that you let me take her as an apprentice and teach her how to control her magic."

"And if we refuse." Nikolai asked.

"I will still take her." Harry answered without missing a beat.

"I see. Just keep our daughter safe ok." The man sighed. "We failed her once, we don't want to fail her again."

"Of, course." Harry smiled at them. "Well, if that is all, I will be taking my leave then. Hope you get well soon."

With that, Harry gave a quick bow and left, teleporting back to Potter Cove the moment the door closed behind him.

-ANLANLANLANL-

Three weeks. It had been three weeks since Illyana had come to Potter Cove and she felt like she was living in a palace. Life with magic was _perfect._ The whole house was all about magic and she just couldn't get enough. She had even had Harry put an illusion on her room's ceiling of the night sky which activated with a passcode. Therefore, every night to her looked like she was sleeping in the open or perhaps space.

The elves adored her and kept trying to get her to eat donuts. Nat however had warned her that not only were they a tool Harry used to ensnare beautiful virgins for his rituals, they would make her get fat. Of course she knew the redhead had been messing with her but ever since that one time Harry had given her some donuts on her arrival, she had never tried to accept any from him again.

Well there was that time he had given her to taste and she had ended up sporting blue skin for the whole day but that was beside the point. All in all, life had been looking up for Illyana. For some reason, she had never had any of her nightmares. Neither had she even bothered to attempt using her teleporting discs for fear of either getting herself trapped in Limbo or triggering whatever had been causing her to get the nightmares.

Harry had put off any lessons in magic until next year and to make it worse, Nat had sided with him. Natasha had become friends with Illyana the very day they had met. The older woman had found Illyana in the library struggling with the _Monster book od monsters_. She had helped her calm down the book and told her of her own first experience with said book. Apparently it had even managed to break Natasha's fingers as she tried to intimidate the book.

They had found a mutual love for magical creatures and Illyana found that her most favorite creatures were Chimeras while Natasha's were thestrals. They had bonded over that and Illyana found that she really enjoyed the woman's company as she kind of reminded her of Storm back in Limbo.

Harry had then come back and told her they were going shopping and Natasha would be taking her. The SHIELD agent had flat out refused unless Harry would be coming with them. Harry had protested and pouted to no avail. He had even tried to teleport away only for Illyana to accidentally bring him back with a teleporting disc. That was how they learnt that if she concentrated enough, she could teleport someone or something to her or away from her if she knew where it was.

She had decided to practice on Harry by teleporting him back and forth for about half a day before he found a way of blocking it. Whatever he did, she never found out.

However, a sulking Harry had been dragged around New York by the two females, making him carry their luggage which he simply shrunk down and put in his pockets. All in all, Illyana found that she truly belonged at Potter's Cove. And that was not even mentioning the fact of how…safe she felt when around him. Like nothing would ever harm her so long as she stayed at Harry's side.

Other regular visitors to Potter Cove were Jean and Anne. It had been found that Jean had developed a core but it was too small for her to be able to cast magic. However, it was assured that any children she had would be magical. Nonetheless, Illyana was happy that the two girls came around as she got time to relax with people her own age. While Harry was fun to be around, he spent a lot of time either in the library or his study. She knew he was working on various projects one being how to track other witches and wizards.

With her almost non-existent knowledge of wizard magic, she was useless to him that category. More often than not, she found herself bored out of her mind and she would either spend her time in the greenhouse or prowling around the edge of the forest. Harry had given her express orders never to venture into the forest without him. At least not before she has knowledge of no less than third year of Hogwarts.

Illyana shook herself out of her musings and dragged herself out of bed. Christmas was in one week and she had absolutely no idea what gift she would be getting Harry. She already had gifts for Jean, Anne, Natasha, her brother and even her parents but not Harry. He was just so hard for one to figure out. At some point he can be eccentric and give a very good imitation of a mad scientist, then he could be a man child and prank anything that moves and do a load of things you would never expect from him.

Other times he could be very serious and act like those pure blood lords she had read about in the library. And then at times he could behave like a big brother or even father to her depending on his fancy. Now just how do you find something that could satisfy all his personalities. Then she came to a decision, she would ask the others for what they are preparing for him and decide. She grabbed her communication mirror from the small table and called Natasha. After about twenty seconds, the redhead received.

"Hey Nat, good morning." Illyana greeted her cheerfully.

"Have ever heard of something called time zones Illyana?" Natasha asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh…I am so sorry if I woke you, I was just excited and I didn't want to forget so I deci_"

"Its fine kid, I was about to wake up anyway." Natasha interrupted her. "So what's so urgent that you had to drag me out of bed?"

"Uhm actually it's not _that_ urgent..." She said with a blush. "I just wanted to know what gift you got for Harry, I was kind of having a hard time deciding on what to give him so…"

"Oh, to be honest I haven't even contemplated giving him a gift in the first place." Natasha admitted with a shrug. "I'm not into much of holidays so when you come up with yours be sure to tell me."

"What, but you were supposed to suggest…"

"Sorry, I am not that great with such things." Natasha said. "Anyway I'll be dropping by sometime today so we can talk about this later."

Illyana went to breakfast and sat down waiting for Harry. The older wizard had a habit of sleeping in whenever he didn't have anything important in the morning to do. Though sometimes he woke up early to go and experiment in his study or his _tinkering room_ that was in the study. Illyana had never been able to find said room though she knew that the entrance was in the study. The tinkering room was where Harry experimented with the more volatile magics.

As if to emphasize her point, the house shook with a loud explosion that had clearly come from downstairs.

"Harry is pretty busy I see." Natasha said as she entered the room and Illyana jumped to give the older woman a hug.

"Nat, your already here."

"Yeah, I need to talk to Harry about something." The redhead said as she took a seat at the dining table. "Not to mention I quite enjoy the breakfast here so I decided to just get it over with."

"To get over what?" Harry asked as he teleported right into his chair. None of the occupants there even batted an eyebrow at his arrival. Though they most definitely blinked at his appearance.

"My Harry…" Natasha started with a grin. "Not quite so _hairy_ anymore are you."

Harry's head was missing hair except for a few places that had little and that little was standing on end like he had been electrocuted. His face however was completely devoid of any hair. No eyebrows, no eyelashes, and even the ghost of a mustache that he somehow managed to maintain at the same level everyday was missing.

"What can I say, I like them _shaved bald_ "

Natasha rolled her eyes while Illyana chocked on her tea blushing furiously. Thankfully, Harry was not one to stay on one topic of conversation for long.

"So, what has you brightening this old stone house with your beauty this early." Harry asked Natasha.

"Well, I wanted to ask you a favor."

"No." Harry stated and Natasha rolled her eyes.

"You even don't know what I'm going to ask you."

"I said no." Harry repeated. "The last time I did you a favor I ended up fighting in a _Lucha Libre_ match."

"No one forced you to enter yourself." Natasha argued. "And if I remember correctly you went back the next week and the week after and up to now you go every Saturday."

"That is beside the point."

"Why don't you just listen to what she wants to ask then you can decide to either refuse or allow." Illyana suggested and Harry huffed.

"Of course I can't deny someone so beautiful." Harry sulked. "It is better if I just not hear what she has to say."

"Ok now you're just being dramatic." Natasha quipped.

"Fine… what do you want?"

"Have you ever heard of the Hellfire club?"

-ANLANLANLANL-

"How did I end up agreeing to this?" Harry whined.

"Will just stop whining already." Natasha hissed as she got out of the limo hired by SHIELD

"I am not whining." Harry whined again adjusting the cufflinks on his arms. she had to admit he cut quite the figure in his Italian charcoal black suit. Already taller than normal, Harry, his emerald eyes shining and his hair lying on his head in a mess made him draw attention mostly from the females around.

"He is just nervous." Illyana said from Natasha's right.

"Oh hello Mr. Kettle, this is Mr. Pot." Harry said sarcastically though he didn't argue against being nervous. "And just so you know this isn't exactly my first fancy dinner I am attending."

"Will you two just keep quiet." Natasha admonished them as they entered the hall which was now acting as a dance floor.

Natasha had managed to convince the two to escort her on an information gathering mission against someone in the Hellfire club. SHIELD had managed to book at table on one Christmas dinner hosted by the person in question and the two magicals were here as escorts. She had a data pad that had been programmed to download all data on the man's phone so long as they were in a ten-meter radius.

They had a few dances, Natasha and Illyana dancing with Harry a few times before they continued switching partners. Natasha had then ended up dancing with the target for some time, playing her role of Black Widow so well that the man was practically eating from her hands by the time the separated and the trio went to their table.

They had just sat down when one woman dressed quite elegantly strolled towards their table.

"I think that woman is coming towards us."

"I can see that Illyana though thanks for the heads up." Harry whispered back dryly.

"That is Selene Gallio, she is the Black Queen of the Hellfire club." Natasha had briefed them on how the club was run. "She is the owner of this hotel and quite close with our target. She is a mutant and also she is believed to be a sorcerer and immortal"

Harry narrowed his eyes at that. Immortality always had a price and most case if not all, that price was never good. Natasha broke off her explanation as Selene reached their table and Harry stood up to greet her.

"Hello there, I don't think we have met before." The woman said in a smooth voice.

"I am often told that I make quite the impression on those I meet." Harry answered as smoothly taking her offered hand. "Therefore, it would be safe to say that you have indeed not met me."

"Oh you are an interesting one." Selene purred taking a seat. "I am Selene by the way, and it is always an experience meeting new people."

"A beautiful name for one such as yourself." Harry answered with a smile even as the woman tried reading his mind. "And I would be James while these beautiful ladies are my adopted sisters Clair and Natalie."

"James you say, you don't know by any chance someone called Harry Potter?" Selene asked completely ignoring Illyana and Natasha.

"Harry Potter…" Harry frowned in thought. "Can't say I've heard the name before, some celebrity or something?"

"Not someone important I am sure." She dismissed. "Just someone with an uncanny resemblance to you."

"Now that is worrying." Harry contemplated. "Perhaps an impostor?"

"I don't think that kind of technology has been invented yet." Selene continued, pinning Harry with her blue eyed gaze though Harry simply shrugged of slowly sipping his wine. "I was thinking along the lines of…magic."

"There is no such a thing as magic." Harry answered with a snort.

Selene gave him a look. One that made her look like a mother staring at her naughty nine-year old son.

"I'll be keeping an eye on… _James Black_." The immortal sorcerer declared before getting up and leaving their table, Harry's narrowed eyes following her..

"Why do I feel like you are about to do something stupid soon?" Natasha asked with a sigh.

Her only answer was a mysterious smile.

-ANLANLANLANL-

AN: Alright fellows, I think by this point I should stop telling you that avengers is next chapter. However, in my defense, Illyana is such a very interesting character that I could write and entire novel about her. May be a spinoff from here onwards… now that is something to think about.

Anyway, Avengers next, those expecting something dramatic happening after this scene, don't hold your breaths. Christmas may or may not have something fun but it will not take more than two thousand words. Anyway, till next time.


	12. Chapter 12

**A NEW LIFE**

 **Chapter 12**

 _Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners._

-ANLANLANLANL-

 _ **255**_ _ **th**_ _ **December 2011**_

"Weeeeeeeeeee"

Illyana squealed as her snow dragon dived towards the ground at a very high speed as she dodged Harry's. The seven years she had spent in Limbo had dulled the feeling of joy everyone somehow managed to get on Christmas morning. However, Christmas with Harry gave an entirely different meaning to the celebrations.

She had woken up wearing a purple Magical Girl outfit from head to toe. Knowing who was responsible, she had stormed out of her room only to dive back as Harry nearly ran into her. When she got back to her feet, she was twice as angry and had stalked out only to see Anne pursuing Harry also clad in a white and red Magical Girl outfit. The Mutant had decided to spend Christmas with them at Potter Cove rather than at the mansion. Jean had also wanted to stay but she had to go visit her parents.

Running after the pair, Illyana passed by Natasha who was peeking out of her room having been woken by the noise the other two were making. Not surprisingly, Natasha was in her night clothes as she had not been pranked by Harry. The older wizard tended to avoid the SHIELD assassin except when he knew he could get away with the prank, which wasn't very often.

Not even bothering to greet the redhead, Illyana followed the running pair only to trip on the umbrella stand in the entrance hallway _again_. Why the idiot had put it there, she had no idea but every time she used the front entrance she somehow managed to trip on the stupid troll-leg shaped umbrella stand. It didn't help that Harry found it very funny for some reason.

Picking herself up with a string of curse words she had picked from Harry, Illyana ran outside into the snow outside in the courtyard where Harry was in circles around snow dragons. Surprisingly, Illyana didn't feel the cold and she assumed Harry had somehow charmed her Magical girl costume against the cold.

"Stop running and face me like a man you coward." A red faced Rogue shouted at the elder wizard launched a snowball at him.

"Nah, I'll pass." Harry answered with a grin dodging the snowball with little effort.

Illyana decided to help her brown haired friend and sent snowballs while cutting him off from the other side only for Harry to jump on the back of one of the snow dragons, slam his legs into its back and the dragon took to the air as Harry laughed at their expressions.

Illyana gaped for about two seconds before she also jumped onto the back of the remaining three dragons and followed Harry's actions. After struggling to control the dragon for about ten seconds, she got the hang of it and started following Harry. She glanced on her left to see that Rogue had followed her and they exchanged a laugh.

A minute later, it was no longer about chasing Harry but just enjoying a flight as they shouted, whooped squealed and laughed freely as they tried to copy Harry's insane stunts on his own dragon. She had always wanted to fly all her life, and not just in a plane or jet but she had never quite figured out how. Storm had tried to teach her how to fly with her own magic but it was too draining that they decided to leave it. At one point she had told Harry about how much she liked to fly having seen him do it but he told her he was only able to because of his suit.

And now, he had given her the chance and she laughed as she enjoyed the cool wind on her face as well as the weightlessness she felt whenever the dragon dived. Her squealing was interrupted as a snowball landed in her face. She coughed and glared at Harry who was bouncing two balls in both his hands before she ducked again as he tossed both balls at her and Rogue.

Snarling, she grabbed some snow from her own dragon and launched it at Harry who dodged it and flew away from them. Soon he was trying to evade snowballs from both her and Rogue and he wasn't given a chance to retaliate. They enjoyed their game for about an hour before the charms holding the dragons wore off and their Magical girl costumes disappeared as they entered the house. Which was exactly when she tripped. _Again._

-ANLANLANLANL-

The house elves had out done themselves on the decorations. Despite the few humans at the huge house, there was a feel of fullness and an air of festivity that everyone felt themselves smiling even without knowing why. There were even fairies flying around the house, their bright wings making them easily visible wherever they were hiding.

After they had dried up and found appropriate clothing, the four human residents of Potter Cove found themselves in the muggle room awaiting to open their presents. Illyana found about ten gifts and wondered who they were from. She hadn't been with many friends before she was taken to Limbo and had never received that many gifts before.

"I think I will go first." Natasha said as she regarded the five boxes before her curiously.

The first box was from Jean. The teenage telepath wasn't as close to Natasha as the rest who were present so it was quite a surprise. It turned out to be a box of Natasha's favorite candy. The second was from Rogue and it turned out to be a Green sweater the same color as her eyes. It was clearly not very expensive but it was pretty and looked nice on her when she tried it on and Natasha thanked the blushing girl with a hug.

Illyana's gift was a necklace that she had seen Natasha look at when she had taken her shopping for the first time. Illyana had bought it then and kept it for today. The other three two were from Harry the first being a utility belt, similar to the one she always wore only this could become invisible and any of the things put could only be removed by Natasha. The second turned out to be a pretty bracelet in the form of a snake eating its tail.

Its eyes were two emerald gems that absorbed ambient magic from the atmosphere and could summon a magical shield triggered by the word 'Protego' that could block almost anything. If worn only the person who put it was capable of removing it and Natasha had Harry put it for her before the shield was tested using one of her guns and blocked the bullets completely. Harry was thanked for the gifts by a very long hug and was only interrupted when Rogue cleared her throat.

And speaking of Rogue, she had only three and Harry said that the X-men said that she would have to pick theirs herself from the mansion. The gift from Illyana was a pair of beautiful shoes, not expensive but appreciated nonetheless. Natasha gave her a book on meditation to help her on finding a way to control her powers. Harry's gift was a locket, identical to the one she had given him to enchant only this one had the benefit of her being able to turn on and off her powers while still wearing it. All the old enchantments and port-key of the old locket were there though she couldn't yet control how much of her powers were released just on and off.

Illyana's gifts were quite many but there were three most important ones. One was a tome from Dr. Strange about Limbo though why the Sorcerer supreme sent her the book, she had no idea. The other two were from Harry himself. One turned out to be a broom and Illyana nearly chocked the life out of him due to the strength of the hug she gave him. She had more than once expressed her desire to fly but Harry knew of no wizard magic that allowed one to fly without the aid of something like his suit.

Therefore, Harry had decided to create for her a broom. The enchantments were quite easy to reproduce after he had broken down the _firebolt_ Sirius had sent him in his third-year. The only reason wizards had not been able to reproduce them in his home universe was because it was illegal and the brooms were built with a very powerful port-key which activated the moment one tried to break the enchantments on the broom. Therefore, it was not only illegal but also hard to recreate one similar to the ones produced by the company.

Therefore, since there was no way a port-key was going to activate to take the broom to his home universe, Harry had been free to study his _firebolt_ and was now capable making as many _firebolts_ as he wanted. It was just a shame that they could only be ridden by someone with a magical core or he would have made for the other two as well. The broom had taken some effort on Harry's part as most of his first tries for some reason ended up blowing up.

The second gift however nearly had Illyana passing out in excitement.

"Is… is that a wand?" Illyana asked quietly as regarded the thin stick sitting innocently in the box.

"Yep, it most certainly is a wand." Harry answered proudly as he eyed the wand. "13inches long of Elder from the core of the Dark forest with a phoenix feather dipped in a mixture of your blood and sweat for a core."

"Dark forest?" Natasha asked.

"Pretty cool right, it's how I'll be referring to the forest surrounding Potter Cove." Harry grinned at her. "Anyway, the wand should work for you perfectly and will be good with elemental spells as elder is usually associated with fire and air as well as the phoenix."

Illyana slowly, as if afraid the wand may disappear picked up the white-yellow wand and held it in her right hand. And nothing happened.

"Uhm, is something supposed to happen." She asked in a small voice trying to hide her disappointment as she looked at Harry.

"Yeah…" Harry answered with his own frown of confusion as he took back the wand from her and then face palmed. "Of course, the dampening runes. Why don't we get out of this room and we try again."

The four filed out of the room and when they reached the corridor, Harry held the wand with the handle facing Illyana while the pointy hand was in his hand. In hind sight, it should have occurred to Harry that doing something like this wasn't the best idea especially as he was with the stairs behind him while Natasha and Anne were standing behind the young witch.

The moment Illyana's hand made contact with the wand's handle, a strong wind erupted from the tip which lifted Harry and launched him towards the ceiling and _somehow_ tossed him down the stairs with green and silver sparks following right behind as Illyana bonded with her wand. The three looked at Harry as he trudged back for a few seconds before they all burst out laughing.

"Well, at least now we know it works." Harry said dryly when the laughter subsided though an occasional snicker escaped Illyana. "Anyway, I want you to know that that wand is not a toy. It can do almost anything from making one laugh with no reason to stopping their heart without even twitching. That wand can be the most destructive weapon or the most powerful healing device. It can give as well as take a life, it can make you happy as well as sad. It can be a blessing as well as a curse to yourself as well as those around you. It is your choice to define what it will be. Now Illyana Rasputin, do you agree to be my apprentice?"

Illyana took a few seconds to reconcile the Harry standing before her to the Harry she had known the past two months. And then another few seconds to process what he had asked of her before she straightened her back and answered.

"I do."

"Very well." Harry said as his wand appeared in his hand. Illyana idly noted that it was slightly similar to hers in color as Harry moved his wand over his hand and a cut was made. "I Harry James Potter willingly take on Illyana Nikolievna Rasputin as my willing apprentice and swear to fulfil all that is required of me in my role as master to an apprentice, so mote it be."

He then offered his bloody hand to her which she took without a second thought and spoke.

"So mote it be."

There was no flash of light or anything to show that the bond had been formed but both Illyana and Harry felt it within themselves as the bond was accepted and recognised by magic. She could tell how different it felt with the one she had with Belasco. While the other one had been like a coil connecting one sphere to another, this felt like a river connected one lake to a bigger lake. However, the river was flowing towards the smaller lake which meant Illyana would be the one to benefit the most from this connection.

"So, I was wondering…" Natasha started. "What use is the wand. I mean I always see you do magic without yours and I am sure Illyana can do some magic even when she didn't have one."

Harry sat down on the couch and looked at the redhead seated next to him while Illyana and Anne sat down on the carpeted floor and whispered excitedly about the wand.

"Magic from a core of either a wizard or witch is best used with a focus." Harry explained. "With enough training, a wizard may be able to focus magic from their core through their bodies but it will be very hard and it takes a great deal of your magic. However, the wand when bonded to the witch like it just did with Illyana, it pulls the magic right from the core and does not need any conscious effort from the wizard or witch to focus their magic for the desired effect. You may use about five times more magic use the wand if you try to focus it with your body."

"Does that mean _you_ use more magic than usual." This time it was Anne who asked, having listened to his explanation.

"Not exactly." Harry answered as the Elder wand appeared in his hand. "This wand is part of me, kind of like an extension of me. So whether I'm holding it or not, I am actually using it if that even makes sense."

"So… your body is a wand?" Illyana asked with a frown.

"Well, I wouldn't put it like that but technically it is." Harry said with a shrug. "However, I don't know if you have realized that there are some branches of magic I do while holding the wand and those I don't bother holding it. Charms, conjuration and transfiguration for the most part I don't need a wand as these branches don't need a specific target per se as simply focus on the effect I want to happen on something will have the desired effect. Spells and jinxes however need precision with the target in mind so I use the wand to ensure that I hit the precise target for example in the case of a stunner or a disarming spell."

"Will I also be able to do like you?" Illyana asked and Harry smiled at her.

"With enough training you will be able to yes… and after you have mastered usage of your wand I know of a ritual that can bind it to your arm that the Marauders used in the war."

"Marauders?" Anne asked curiously.

"It was what we called ourselves back in the war." He told her. "A group of dark wizards and witches were fond of terrorizing a certain class of people in the wizarding word. Me as well as my godfather with a group of other teenagers who were later joined other adult wizards were the one who opposed them and the conflict turned that lasted for over five years."

The rest of the people, Natasha included were looking at him with attention. While Natasha was aware that Harry had fought in a war, he had never talked this much about it. More than a few times she had imagined how it would be to fight in a war and then almost immediately be ripped from all your loved ones and the people you know. It wasn't something she wished on anyone that wasn't an enemy and the fact that Harry somehow recovered or adapted that fast always awed her.

"Because of a prophecy made before I was even born…" Harry continued now immersed in memories. "The leader of these terrorists, Death Eaters as they called themselves focused almost all his being to make sure that I was killed so he could prove to himself that no one could stand in his way and live. It probably had something to do with the fact that I just didn't seem to die."

"What do you mean?" Illyana asked.

"Well, when I was one-year-old Voldemort, that was what he called himself." Harry added at the others' inquisitive looks. "Anyway, Voldemort attacked my family and managed to both my parents but when he tried to kill me with the killing curse that he had just used on my mom, it somehow rebounded and destroyed his body. When I was eleven, I started learning at Hogwarts and we had a confrontation where I should have died but I didn't. when I was twelve, I fought with a sixteen-year version of him and I survived, at fourteen, he resurrected and I fought him again, I still managed to escape."

Harry could see that some things he was talking about didn't make much sense to Illyana and Anne though Natasha who had read some of the Issues of the _Daily Prophet_ that were in the library was understanding perfectly.

"I had managed to get my godfather a trial and I started living with him so when I was persecuted by the Wizarding world, I hid myself and trained, got stronger and started fighting back. With time, my friends also dropped out of school and joined us and soon, there was an army on both sides of the conflict. Due to a number reasons, I ended up being the leader of the group and I decided to name it the Marauders as in memory to my parents."

Harry looked at his audience to see that each had a different reaction. Natasha looked like she had finally figured out the answer to a question that had been bugging her, Illyana looked like she was seeing him for the first time. Rogue looked to be on the verge of tears and was almost seating in his lap. However, all three looked like they wanted to hear more. He was surprised he had spoken that much actually and somehow he felt like a bit of weight had been lifted off his shoulders no matter how small.

"Anyway…" Harry clapped startling everyone. "That is no conversation for a Christmas morning. I believe we were opening presents…"

And just like that, the mood changed like someone had flipped a switch. Illyana opened her next box which was from Harry that exploded with a flash of light before everyone developed donkey ears and a tail. Well everyone except Harry and the next minutes were spent chasing the older wizard around the house to retaliate.

Natasha found herself laughing freely and joining the two teenage girls in their pursuit, something which surprised even herself. If someone had come to her at the beginning of the year that she would be laughing and exchanging gifts this Christmas. She would have laughed in their face and probably put a bullet in their brains. But ever since Harry entered her life with all the subtlety of a freight train, she found that things that were part of her, things that she had created around herself were slowly but surely crumbling the more she spent time with or around him.

She wasn't exactly opposed to the idea.

At that very moment, a bucket of paint was dumped on her head pulling her out of her day dream. She cursed quite colorfully in Russian and Illyana, the culprit let out a squeak as she blushed to the roots of her hair. While Harry was fond of cursing, mostly about things concerning Luna, the blonde fourteen-year old was still adjusting to the more… colorful words.

All in all, it was quite a memorable Christmas.

-ANLANLANLANL-

 _ **177A Bleecker Street, New York**_

 _ **14**_ _ **th**_ _ **January 2012**_

Harry teleported in front of the Sanctum in New York just at the edge of the wards. Still invisible, he strolled towards the door and frowned slightly when he didn't feel the wards wash over him but he shrugged and continued. He then knocked on the door and waited for a couple seconds before Stephen himself opened the door and looked around with a frown of his own. Harry dispelled the invisibility cloak and smiled at Sorcerer Supreme when he started in surprise.

"Hi, Stephen it had been quite a while."

"Harry." Stephen said in greeting. "How, did you cross the wards without notifying me?"

"I did what now?"

"The wards only recognised you when you became visible."

"No idea." Harry shrugged as he passed by Strange and entered. "Probably has something to do with my method of invisibility. Clearly better than Wong's"

Stephen watched Harry as he walked towards the living room before he followed him ignoring Wong who was spluttering at being seen that easily.

"So what brings you here?" Stephen asked taking a seat opposite Harry.

"To wish you a happy new year of course." Harry answered like it was obvious.

"You are two weeks late."

"I know, that is why I brought you this." Harry said as he brought a matchbox sized book from his pocket. He put it on the table and tapped it twice as he deactivated the shrinking charm. The book started enlarging until it was back to its normal size which was quite big, almost the size of _Hogwarts A History_.

"THE CORE by Lord Potter-Black?" Stephen read the title of the book with a raised eyebrow.

"Yep, that book contains all you need to know about a wizard's core." Harry explained. "For example it explains the meaning of the core and how it makes magic drawn from a core different from other forms of magic. I know you have been dying to understand just how different our forms of magic are and I assure you I created that tome with only you in mind."

"So, let me get this straight." Stephen said as he resisted the urge to grab the book and lock himself in his bedroom for the rest of the day. "You decided to take a day off from training your apprentice to come and give me a new year's gift, two weeks into January I may add just because we are what… friends."

"Yeah, that about sums it up." Harry grinned at him.

"And what do you want in exchange?"

"What, what do you mean in exchange." Harry looked affronted. "I gave you a _gift_ out of the goodness of my heart. There is no need for you to repay me."

"Oh, well thank you then Harry." Stephen smiled as he stood up. "I am sure there is much you would rather do than stay here looking at an old man."

"But of course." Harry said standing up as well. "Well, in that case, I'll be taking my leave."

Stephen escorted Harry to the door and just as he was getting out, he paused and gave him another smile.

"Oh and I almost forgot. I am currently working on a project about travel between dimensions and Universes." His eyes were now twinkling as he mused to himself. "It would really be great if I got my hands on some material in that field. Good thing I have friends."

And with that, he teleported back to Potter Cove.

Stephen blinked at the empty space before his lips twitched into a ghost of a smile. He had no problem sharing information with Harry. His gut just seemed to shout at him to trust Harry and keep as close to him as possible. If he hadn't been a master of the mystic arts and knowledge to check such things, he would have suspected magic. However, he knew that Harry wasn't using any magic to influence him so he decided to trust his gut feeling.

Walking through the library, he came across the only two books that talked about Multiple Universes. He had an idea about why Harry would be searching about something like that and he would help if the wizard asked for help. Stephen picked the two tomes and placed them on the table then called for the phoenix. A second later, the books disappeared in a flash of lightning.

-ANLANLANLANL-

Harry looked up as Nym mentally notified him about the arrival of the two books. Ever since his conversation with the twins, Harry had been trying to find ways on how to travel between one universe to another. All the books he had found within his library only mentioned the multi-verse in passing in one or two paragraphs at most and he had barely made any progress.

The book Stephen sent her concerning Limbo had been quite useful, one of the reasons he had decided to go to him for help. It had also opened Harry's eyes as regards to Illyana and why the Sorcerer Supreme had sent her the book in the first place. He had gotten an idea on some of the things the girl had not told him on that day she attacked her parents and things were quite worrying to say the least.

Harry had not shared his findings with her and he had left her to find out for herself as telling her right now wouldn't matter anyway. He knew he was acting like Dumbledore but it was better she found out herself and at least when she is ready to face that particular fact. He believed that when she manages to put two and two together, he would explain and help her deal with the issue.

However, at this point in time his plate was quite full. On top of completing his MTS, he was working on finding a way to physically meet his family no matter how improbable that seemed. And now he had started teaching Illyana the basics of wizard magic. The teenage girl was a bright one and a fast learner at that. While weak in theory, she was very good at practical part and usually got a spell on her third or fourth try. Harry made sure that once she learnt a spell, she was capable of performing it both verbally and non-verbally with the same amount of success.

Bringing his attention back to the two tomes that had appeared in his study, Harry got up from his work station in the muggle room. From the book on Limbo, he had been able to understand the mechanics of how the place worked and after consulting with his library, Harry had found a way of opening a portal to another dimension so long as he has something he can focus on that is related to that dimension. At this point however, he just couldn't open one between universes.

At some point he had thought that he got the mechanics of it and had tried to open it. There had been a slight distortion as the portal started opening but it had snapped shut immediately and the backlash had slammed him into the stone wall of his tinkering room and had his magical core in a state of chaos. He had spent two days without using his magic as it had tended to produce bizarre results when he attempted to use it. That had been four days ago. Hopefully, the books Stephen sent him would be of some help.

-ANLANLANLANL-

 _ **Training room, Potter Cove.**_

 _ **One month later.**_

"The _Patronus Charm_ , is very complex magic…" Harry lectured in the now familiar tone he only used when imparting knowledge. "Normally I wouldn't have tried teaching you this early in your training because it would be practically impossible to even have the least bit of results. However, since you have been using magic long before you started your apprenticeship and you have a very good idea on manipulating your core then I guess you will have an easier time perfuming the charm. Now tell me, how much do you know about the Patronus."

Illyana frowned slightly as she tried to remember what she had read about the Patronus. She had been interested in it having seen Harry use it in its battle in Limbo and knowing the effect it had on demons, she had decided to try it. And failed.

"The _Patronus Charm_ is of the few branches of magic which can only be fueled by emotion. It is a minor branch of soul magic and used to repel things or creatures that revel in the opposite of what it is made of, in this case being happiness." Illyana answered dutifully. "Therefore for one to conjure a Patronus, they would need a powerful happy memory or something that made them happy and a good amount of magic. It usually takes on the form of something that a person is emotionally attached to, either as a loved one or a protector."

"That is quite adequate." Harry said and Illyana beamed at the compliment. Harry for some reason was very mean on compliments when it came to training. "The corporeal Patronus can repel creatures like Dementors and lethifolds which you must have come across while reading about the charm and as you are now aware, it weakens a demon if they are in close proximity."

Illyana nodded as she added a few notes in her note book. She had indeed come across the foul creatures and she wasn't looking forward to meeting any of them in person anytime soon.

"The incantation is _Expecto Patronum_ and you have to actively channel magic into your wand." Harry said as his wand appeared in his hand. "Think of a memory, something that made you happy. Immerse yourself in the memory and let your consciousness sink into the feeling. Let the feeling of consciousness flow through you until you can almost taste that happiness on your tongue. And only then can you speak the incantation."

Illyana did as she was told. She used her meager skill in Occulmency, something Harry had insisted she learn. They had found that she was immune to legilimency and all other forms of telepathy and Harry assumed that it had something to do with her bond with Belasco. However, he insisted that she learned the art as Occulmency was more than just mind protection and when she started her training six weeks ago, Occulmency had been one thing Harry put the most emphasis.

She pulled the memory of bonding with her wand, remembering it with more clarity than she probably would if she hadn't learned the basics of occulmency. She felt her body relaxing as the feeling of fullness spread throughout her body. Her lips slowly stretched into a smile and when she felt she was ready, she raised her wand and spoke very clearly.

" _ **Expecto Patronum"**_

She felt as magic was pulled from her core as a silvery mist erupted out of her wand. Slowly the mist started forming into a shape that looked like some bird of some kind but before she could even realize what bird it was, the missed started fading and disappeared leaving her panting and sobbing in disappointment but her self-pity was stopped by Harry's shout.

"That. Was. Awesome." Harry exclaimed excitedly. "That was so great, and on your first try too. Oh I'm so proud of you. It took me half a year to even produce something like that."

Harry pulled her into a hug and Illyana found herself smiling instead. She had been disappointed that it wasn't even half like the way Harry's had looked. In fact, she had expected him to be disgusted with her for her failure as she used to such treatment with Belasco. Granted Harry had never ridiculed her or even hit her for not getting a spell on her first try, she just thought that it was because he was different from the other monster but it would be just a matter of time before he realized how weak and pathetic she was. She had been wrong.

"But it didn't even last a minute." She said when she was released.

"Of course it didn't. Remember, I told you it need someone to actively channel magic to their wand to maintain it." Harry said and Illyana nodded. "How long it last depends on your concentration and the magic you are putting in, you just get the hand of it and by making it corporeal and the rest will be a piece of cake."

"I guess." Illyana answered as she raised her wand to try again.

"Whoa, hold it right there young lady." Harry admonished as he snatched the wand from her fingers. "You just used a great amount of magic and I don't want you to pass out on me. Why don't you take a few hours off, eat some donuts and then we shall continue the training after lunch."

With that, Harry turned and walked out of the training room with her wand. Illyana looked around for some few seconds, having no idea what to do given that most of the time she was training with Harry in the mornings and now that she was free, maybe she could go for a ride on her dream. She pulled her shrunken broom from within her hair where it worked as a spare hair pin and ran out of the house, tripping on the umbrella stand on the way. She remembered that today was supposed to be Valentines' day but that was very far from her mind.

From the window in his study at the top floor, Harry watched as his apprentice dived and flipped on the broom he had made her with a smile. He couldn't help picture the twins flying next to her and Daphne in his arms as they watched them together. Illyana by this point had become family and there was no arguing about it. The girl had a learning drive that could make Hermione proud and also a mean streak that would have had Padfoot adopting her. She was powerful, vicious and pretty mean when she wanted.

Harry knew that she had something dark with in her. It was so deep that he daren't try to search for it in fear of awakening it. He was sure it was that darkness that made her immune to telepathy and legilimency. He was also sure it wasn't a possession as he would have known right away and there wasn't another soul like he had been with Voldemort. It was as if it was Illyana but then she wasn't. A split-person disorder or something like that.

However, with all that aside, Illyana was a very likeable girl with a very low self-esteem. In more ways than one, she reminded Harry of himself in the years when he had just joined Hogwarts. He hadn't been showered with love when he was young and therefore any complement meant a lot to him. It was because of this that he wished he had killed Belasco for daring to corrupt someone so sweet.

Harry would never admit it, even in the privacy of his mind that he wasn't putting as much effort in his MTS as he didn't want other people to join them as it would disrupt the relationship he had built with the girl he was now thinking of like a daughter? Little sister? He wasn't sure but he had grown quite fond of her and he just wasn't sure he was ready to bring in other people.

That wasn't even talking about his other friends like Natasha. Under normal circumstances, he would have cultivated something romantic with the redhead but he just couldn't bring himself to develop the necessary feelings. Granted he felt some attraction for the SHIELD assassin, who wouldn't, that woman was just down right sexy. But his heart still harbored the hope of meeting again with Daphne to continue what he never got to explore back home.

Jean and Anne were another thing. The two mutants almost spent all their free time at Potter Cove. On more than one occasion they came along with Kitty Pryde and Harry had seen the brunette eyeing Illyana on more than one occasion though he had no idea whether his apprentice had noticed. He knew that the two mutants had crushes on him and Anne had dropped _hints_ on more than one occasion but Harry had pretended to not notice. But they were friends and Harry would be most displeased with anyone who hurt either of them.

However, he knew he had a role to play in this Universe and it was inevitable that other people would eventually come into his life. Sighing, Harry summoned his journal from its hiding place. The book had so many enchantments on it that Harry was sure the planet could be vaporized and it would remain floating in outer space by itself.

Having studied the charm that had not been able to protect his family as much as they had wanted to, Harry had turned the _Fidelius_ charm inside out to know how it worked and all the mechanics involved. He had found that magic creates a pocket dimension overlapping the mortal plane that was big enough for the house of whatever was being put under the charm to fit. Therefore, when one was told the secret, magic gives him access to the pocket dimension.

One could unleash Fiendfyre in the general direction of the property under the _Fidelius_ and everything around it would be burned but the house would be unharmed. Voldemort had tried that trick after Bellatrix informed of the general area she remembered the Black ancestral home to be. Harry and Sirius had slept through the whole event only to wake up with the whole neighborhood in ashes.

He had therefore modified the charm to create a pocket dimension big enough for the journal to fit and he could access it from anywhere. All he had to think about was the secret and he could use it before he stashed back in its dimension. The contents in the journal also could only be accessed by him and to any it would look empty with no more than 100 pages. Yet in actual sense it had been charmed never to run out of pages or even increase in size. Pulling the journal from its pocket dimension which Harry liked called hyperspace, he spoke out.

"TMS"

The journal opened and flipped its pages for about thirty seconds before it reached the part concerning the MTS. Harry raised his legs on the table, leaned back in his seat and started reading through his notes. He was pretty sure he had managed to isolate the search to only human magical cores rather than just magic. It would periodically send waves of magic and if they hit a magical core, it would immediately. All he had to come up with was a way to add the rune formation onto the central wardstone without having the wards collapse on themselves.

-ANLANLANLANL-

 _ **Potter Cove**_

 _ **April 1**_ _ **st**_ _ **2012**_

Illyana watched in fascination as the floor sank into the ground in the corridor between the teleporting room and the training room. The stone floor rearranged itself into stairs that disappeared into darkness. She followed Harry as he went down the stairs into the cool dark room below which lit up the moment Harry's foot stepped on the floor of the room. She could feel the magic in the room, it was thick and concentrated, like a single spark could cause an explosion.

Harry approached one wall and hissed at it in what Illyana knew was perseltongue as he sprinkled his blood on it. The wall started rearranging itself and when it was finished, there was a glowing rectangular shaped blood-red stone floating before Harry. The glow seemed to be pulsing like a heartbeat and she had a feeling it was at the pace as Harry's heart.

Harry tapped on the stone with his wand and a holographic image of the stone was displayed above it showing numerous runes connected and overlapping each other in some kind of perfect pattern on it. Harry then started tracing other runes on the holographic image and they somehow found others that matched with them like two pieces of a puzzle. More and more runes were traced and each one found a Patner that they joined without breaking the perfectness of the whole system.

When he was done with tracing the new runes, Harry tapped the stone again and the holographic image sunk back into the stone. The glow disappeared for a second and then it came back with twice the intensity it had before. Illyana shivered as she felt something like a wave wash through her, interacting with her magical core, but it was gone half a second later. She looked at Harry who had also shivered slightly and was looking at the stone in satisfaction.

"Did it work?"

"Yes." Harry answered proudly. "Better I had thought as it gives the name and location of the person direct to my mind."

"So… what now?" Illyana asked again as the stone floated back to the wall which reorganized itself back into the perfect stone wall.

"Now…" Harry answered as he led the way towards the entrance. "We wait. As of now, we are the only magicals with active magical cores and when one activates then I will be informed right away."

"What do you mean active?"

"A wizard or witch's core activates at the age of seven." Harry answered patiently. "Then it goes through the first phase of magical maturity at eleven before they are capable of performing any spells including _Lumos_. The second phase happens at thirteen when they hit puberty while the third and sometimes the last happens at seventeen. The final one happens at twenty-five for those who are very powerful when their growth slows down to a crawl."

"Does that mean you hit your final one?" Illyana asked. "I mean you have barely aged a day since we met and it has been like six months."

"My case is different." Harry answered mysteriously. "Maybe I will explain in the future. Now, we are going for a beating… uhm spar in the training room."

Illyana groaned.

-ANLANLANLANL-

 _ **Secret SHIELD FACILITY**_

While Harry was celebrating his success for having finally created the TMS by beating up Illyana in the disguise of a spar, he wasn't aware that his newly created TMS missed one target that had just stepped onto the planet. It just so happened that he never considered people who were capable of masking their presence when he was making his MTS. Then again, his MTS was made to search for potential students and anyone capable of masking their magical core was in no way student material.

Loki Odinson, also known as god of mischief and magic grinned as he stepped out of the Portal and came face to face with Doctor Selvig who blinked at him in confusion.

"Who are you?"

"Me…" Loki's grin became bigger. "I am your God. Now **BOW.** "

-ANLANLANLANL-

AN: Well, there goes that chapter twelve, hope it sheds some light on a few things that have not been clear before. And before anyone complains about what I revealed in this chapter about Illyana, almost everything I talked about is canon, so I will probably just ignore you.

Anyway thank you for reading and reviewing, I was quite excited when I _finally_ hit a thousand favorites. I love you guys, till next time.


	13. Chapter 13

**A NEW LIFE**

 **Chapter 13**

 _Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners._

AN: I adopted some of the lines in this chapter direct from the movie _AVENGERS_. Some of them were just too good that I couldn't resist while others were very technical that I couldn't make heads or tails on them so please bear with me.

-ANLANLANLANL-

 _ **2**_ _ **nd**_ _ **April 2012**_

 _ **Russia, Solenski Plaza, Night.**_

Natasha resisted the urge to begin dozing out of boredom. She had been on the trail a small gang of Russian gangsters that were becoming a pain in SHIELD's side. It had been over three weeks since she was at Potter Cove and hopefully she would be completing this mission today and visit. Granted it was Friday night, Harry will likely to be fighting in Mexico tomorrow in his Lucha Libre match.

Bringing her attention back to her captors, she saw that they were talking on the phone while eyeing in trepidation. Maybe they were finally ready to take her to their boss. She blinked when the one who had been talking handed her the phone. she looked at her hands that had been tied behind the wooded chair and raised her eyebrow at the Russian.

Snarling, the Russian gangster put the phone on her ear and Natasha spoke.

" _You need to get back_." Agent Coulson's voice spoke making Natasha frown.

"I am working here."

" _This takes precedence."_

"But I am almost concluding my mission." She protested. "In fact I was in the middle of an investigation and this idiot was giving me everything to get done with this."

" _Burton has been compromised."_

Her heart skipped a beat.

"Let me put you on hold."

She head-butted the guy who had been holding the phone for her and as she pulled her head back, she followed the movement as she lifted her legs and kicked him in the neck as the chair fell. The guy clutched his necks as he struggled to breath. The others came to attack her but she rolled away with her hands still tied behind the chair and sat down pinning the man's leg with the chair. The man bent down as he cried in pain and she head butted him as well.

She turned and kicked him in the torso sending him flying into another man who had come to the rescue. She heard movement from the door and bracing her legs on the wall, she propelled herself towards the door with the wooden chair on the front and crushed into the two men who were entering. They rolled down the stairs and she landed hard on the last one which also made the chair to brake.

Grabbing the broken leg of the chair, she stabbed the man's shoulder who had been unlucky enough to fall right next to her. The second man managed to get to his feet but she didn't give him time and ran at him sending him flying into the concrete wall with a drop kick. She picked his gun and put a bullet in his head. As she ran to get back to the stairs, she also shot the one with a broken leg of chair in his shoulder.

She reached the room to find that two of the men had recovered and with fast reflexes, she dived and rolled in a forward motion dodging one man's bullets and ended her roll right in front the man. She punched his balls and he cried out in pain though his cries were cut off when she shot him directly over the heart. She turned to shoot the other man who was still having trouble breathing but the gun just clicked uselessly.

She dodged the man's kick and grabbed the leg pulling it with her making the man fall. Before he could get up, she grabbed his hand and wrapped her legs around his neck and with surprising strength she twisted her legs and broke the man's neck. All this took less than one minute and she picked her shoes as well as the phone and continued speaking.

"Where is Burton?"

" _We have no idea but we believe he is still alive."_

"I see." Natasha answered. "What do you want me to do?"

" _Talk to the big Guy as well as your magic friend. We shall brief you on everything when you get back."_

"You know what circumstances Harry would be willing to help, right?"

" _I do and trust me this is one such circumstance."_

"Very well"

-ANLANLANLANL-

 _ **Mexico**_

"I can't believe you brought _me_ at a fighting club of all places."

"Give yourself some credit, Br. Banner." Natasha said as she led the way into the club. "We are just here to pick my friend anyway and we shall leave soon."

"The magician?"

"Wizard actually." Natasha answered.

Convincing the man had been quite hard. Granted, she had lied to him about being alone with him but one couldn't be careful enough where Bruce Banner was concerned. In hind sight, the extra security probably wouldn't have been much help other getting themselves ripped up by the Hulk. As for herself, she would have simply used her port-key if the situation had gone out of control and left the other SHIELD agents to deal with it. She was a spy after all, not a Hero."

"Sounds the same to me." Banner replied looking at the people cheering for the match going on in the ring.

"You saw what he is capable of, somehow I doubt a _magician_ can do that."

"I am still not sure I believe what I saw as real."

Natasha just shrugged. She had briefed Banner about the situation and she had showed him a little bit about each of the people being rounded up for the job. Harry's fight with the Phoenix at Jean's childhood home had been ignored as a YouTube video. She figured Harry would be more than willing to show him just how real the fight had been.

The two slipped with in the crowd of fans who were cheering and with good amount of maneuvering, they both ended up at the front, just next to the ring.

"This doesn't look like a place to find a magician." Banner complained and Natasha could see that he was afraid of losing control and start pounding everything in his way.

"Trust me it is." She answered watching as one of the two people in the ring was pommeled by the bigger of the fighters. "I unfortunately introduced him to Lucha Libre and he spends every weekend here, defending his title."

"You mean he is one of the fighters?"

"Yep."

The two fighters were obviously masked and the bigger one was dressed in a bright yellow costume with a dragon on the back and looked like he was on the verge of winning. He grabbed the smaller one by the throat and launched him across the ring. The audience cheered harder and the man let out a below as he stalked towards the downed wrestler.

"Well, at least he knows how to use his fists." Banner commented as the bigger wrestler, Red Dragon grabbed the other man who had just stood up and head butted him sending him right back on the ground. "Or his head."

"Actually, Harry is the one in green." Natasha said as her lips twitched in amusement.

Harry's costume was a skintight suit with a snake drawn in a way that looked like it entered the flesh of the wrestler and got out from the other side. The emerald green suit was completed by an emerald mask that covered most of the face but Harry's green eyes were very clear. Natasha pulled back slightly as Harry was launched across the ring and he fell right where they were standing.

"That's it Harry." Natasha cheered along with the crowd. "You got him exactly where you want him."

Harry looked and her in betrayal and was just opening his mouth to answer but Red Dragon grabbed him by the legs and lifted him on his shoulders and then slammed him head first into the ring with his finishing move. Pinning him, the referee came and counted up to three and the match ended.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we finally have a new champion…. Reeeeeed Dragooooooon." The announcer declared and the crowd cheered. Apparently Harry wasn't very popular around here and Natasha wasn't surprised seeing that he had been champion for seven months now and the fans had been craving a new one. Knowing the fans, they will be wanting Harry to become champion again within two weeks.

Natasha gestured for Banner who had found himself cheering along with the crowd to follow her to the locker rooms. A minute later she was standing in front of Harry's room marked King Python and knocked before she entered. Harry was already changed into casual clothes, black jeans and t-shirt, along with black boots. He grabbed a leather jacket as the two entered.

"You never told me who named you King Python." Natasha said as she gave him a hug in greeting.

"Trust me I have no idea." Harry answered her reveling in the feel of her chest on his. "You are looking quite bright today, is that a glow…"

"Shut up." Natasha rolled her eyes and led the way out of the room. "I have someone you need to meet."

"Uhm, hi." Banner greeted quietly. "Sorry about your… loss back there."

"Oh, don't worry about that." Harry waved him off as he shook the man's hand. "It was getting quite monotonous winning all the time. Harry Potter is the name, charmed I'm sure."

"Bruce Banner." Banner replied. "So… you lost intentionally?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Uhm, well…" Banner seemed to not have an answer for that.

"This guy was something else." Harry said. "I am suspecting drugs though I am still not sure. You think there are drugs that can fool those weird machines…."

"Maybe?" Natasha smiled to herself seeing how Banner was floundering for an answer but Harry had already moved on.

The two followed Natasha as she led the way out of the building using the wrestlers' exit.

"You are not replacing me Natasha are you?" Harry asked as he caught up with her.

"Dr. Bruce Banner is an accomplished Nuclear Physicist and an expert on gamma radiation." Natasha explained leading them to a SHIELD car. "He is one of the people SHIELD is calling in to help us on the _situation_."

"Not your cup of tea them." Harry let out a dramatic sigh of relief. "I was almost worried there. Wait, where did I hear that name before…. In your mind when I was being held prisoner in that cell."

"I don't think that is important_" Natasha started to speak but she was interrupted by Harry.

"The Hulk." He shouted turning to Banner who was seated next to him in the back seat. "You are the Hulk, and you have a frigging cell at the Helicarrier made specifically for you."

Natasha face palmed. Trust Harry to make a completely easy mission complicated.

"Agent Romanoff?" Banner asked, his eyes narrowing and Natasha could see that he wasn't very happy.

"I wasn't meant to say that was I?" Harry said sheepishly before he perked up. "But forget the cell, can I see it?"

"See what?" Banner snapped.

"What do you mean the what, of course The _Thing_ , the monster." Harry exclaimed in excitement.

"I am not sure_" Natasha was once again interrupted.

"We can play show me yours and I show you mine." Harry continued. "You show me the monster and I show you magic, how about that."

"HOW ABOUT YOU SHUT UP." Banner roared at Harry clearly angry.

"Whoa." Harry breathed, his eyes shining in wonder. "Your skin is turning green."

Banner blinked at Harry before he took a deep breath as his skin went back to normal.

"Dr. Banner, I assure you everything I told you was the truth and Harry…" Natasha glared at him. "If you don't shut up, Illyana will be looking for a new trainer."

"Sorry." Harry apologized to Banner. "I just let my excitement at meeting you get the better of me."

"Its fine Mr. Potter."

"Harry."

"What?"

"Call me Harry." Harry said as he smiled at the older man. "So, how does it happen… is it some kind of mental trigger or perhaps an allergy like donuts? Please tell me you are not allergic to donuts."

Natasha sighed as Harry continued talking to Banner. At least the man looked more amused than angry as Harry tried to get him to change by saying certain words he hoped they were a trigger. She also knew that he was trying to distract the physicist from confronting her about the cell that was apparently waiting for him at the Helicarrier.

The drive to where the SHIELD helicopter had been parked was spent with Harry talking non-stop about Harry. He kept referring to Hulk as a monster while making jokes about it that by the time they reached the helicopter, Banner found the fact that he was being called monster more amusing than anything.

"You know I can read minds." Harry suddenly said as they got out of the car apparently switching gears. "I can just go in there and find out the secret myself."

"If you try reading my mind Harry, I will have the Hulk bite off your head."

"That's gross, even for a monster." Harry made a disgusted face. "I think I'm going to be sick."

Harry reached with in the pocket of the jacket and pulled out a small box of donuts which he unshrunk and started eating as they entered the helicopter.

"Donuts anyone, Bruce?" Natasha picked one while Harry practically forced the SHIELD pilot to eat one as well.

"I am not sure I want to eat something _magicked_ out of your pocket." Banner said eyeing the box of donuts suspiciously.

"Suit yourself." Harry shrugged as he took a seat and the chopper took the sky.

Soon they were looking down at the Helicarrier as they approached it.

"I have to say it looks really ugly from up here." Harry commented and Natasha rolled her eyes.

They touched down and the three got out looking around at the activity going on the huge battleship. There were SHIELD agents almost everywhere and they all seemed to be busy with one thing or the other. Natasha's comm beeped and she was informed that Coulson and Captain America had just arrived as well and that she should send the Agent to the bridge as soon as possible. She led Harry and Banner towards where she could see Coulson.

"Agent Romanoff, I understand you have met Steve." Phil said as he gestured towards the man in question.

"Ma'am." Steve Rogers greeted Natasha shaking her hand.

"Hi." She turned to Coulson. "You are needed on the bridge immediately."

"Great, I will leave him in your capable hands then." Coulson said and walked off.

Natasha led Steve towards the railing where Harry and Banner were looking over at the water.

"Are you absolutely sure he wouldn't come out." Harry was saying. "We can try and see now, isn't science all about making experiments?"

"Throwing me off the railing into the water is murder, not an experiment." Banner answered walking away from the railing and nearly ran into an agent.

"Oh come on, where is your sense of adventure."

"Dr. Banner." Steve walks to him and shakes his hand. "And you must be Mr. Potter."

"Oh, yeah I was told you would be coming." Banner said.

"Apparently you can find the cube."

"The cube?" Harry asked in confusion having not been told what was happening.

"Must be strange for you, all this." Banner continued as he gestured around.

"Agent Romanoff has been a great help." Steve answered. "Though I haven't been here before but the military, the guns, they seem kind of familiar."

"I still have no idea what is going on." Harry said but he was ignored.

"Gentlemen, you may want to step inside." Natasha said leading them towards the entrance to the bridge as the Helicarrier started rising.

Inside the bridge was very busy. It gave the phrase 'busy as an anthill' definition. There were giant screens and many monitors. SHIELD agents were running from around but somehow managed not to run into each other. Maria Hill was directing everyone and soon enough, the huge ship was in the air and under camouflage. Natasha led the men into a conference room where Fury was waiting.

"Thank you for coming Doctor." Fury said as he offered Banner his hand. The Physicist looked at it for a moment before he shook it.

"It didn't look like I had a choice." He answered. "So how long am I staying?"

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you are clear."

"Ok can someone tell me what is going on here."

Natasha had been wondering how long it would take for Harry snap and begin demanding answers. He was the most patient fellow on earth after all.

"You keep mentioning a cube, Tesseract and situations. I find myself in a small room with one of the most volatile people in the world, along with an old man who forgot to set an alarm clock before taking a nap and all of you keep taking as if I am not here." Harry ranted somehow managing to glare at Natasha and Fury at the same time.

"Potter." Fury greeted unfazed. "I was hoping we never see each other again."

"Good for you." Harry snapped back. "Now what is going on here and why did Natasha bring me here. I have a lot of things I would rather do than look at your ugly one-eyed face."

"This is the wizard?" Steve whispered to Natasha who nodded. "I expected someone more… ancient."

Though Harry heard him, he didn't even look at him as he continued waiting for Fury to explain.

Fury tapped on the table and the image of the cube was projected.

"That is the Tesseract. It has the potential energy to wipe out the planet." Fury explained. "Someone stole it from SHIELD custody and we have reason to believe that the planet is in danger. That is why we called you, Dr. Banner to help us locate it as it emits a gamma signature that is too weak for us to trace normally and there is no one that knows gamma radiation like you do."

Harry was quiet for a moment before he put his hands in his pockets.

"Well, good luck with that." Harry said preparing to teleport back to Potter Cove.

"Wait, you're not gonna help?" Steve asked and Harry looked at him.

"I am a wizard, not a scientist." He then looked at Banner with a smile. "If anyone is gonna find that thing then it is him."

"Harry wait." Natasha stopped him again as he prepared to go.

"What?"

"It's Loki."

"What is Loki?" Harry asked in confusion.

"The person who took the tesseract is Loki. From Asgard."

Harry looked at her for a moment to see if she was being serious.

"So you are telling me, that Loki Odinson, the Norse god of mischief and magic came from Asgard and stole some powerful box and he is planning to destroy the planet with it?"

"I don't know about the planet part but that is basically what I am trying to say."

"Wasn't his brother here last year?" Harry asked and Natasha nodded and a glint appeared in his eye as his lips slowly started stretching in a smile. "Well, this can't get any better."

"So, are you willing to help us?" Fury asked clearly disturbed with Harry's grin.

"Of course. Can't miss out a fight against a fucking god of mischief."

"Language Mr. Potter." Steve admonished but he was ignored.

"So… about finding this Tesseract…" Harry asked taking a seat.

Coulson stepped forward.

"We are sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cellphones, laptops there are all our eyes and ears."

"Somehow I doubt that will do much against someone with magic. No less the god of mischief himself." Harry said idly as he enlarged another box of donuts. "That is unless he wants you to find him."

"Can you tell us anything you know about him." Steve said. "It could aid us in our search having an idea how he is likely to operate."

"Well there isn't much I can tell you." Harry shrugged. "Asgard was extinct in my universe and the likes of Thor, Loki and Odin were just legends of the past."

"So, can't you find him with your MTS?" Natasha asked while the others looked at her in confusion.

"No, he has managed to mask his magical core so any search would be futile." Harry then straightened. "If he is masking his magical core, then_"

"He is using magic to mask it." Natasha completed. "Can you search specifically for magic?"

"No, but I can search for the Tesseract." Harry said standing up. "I had forgotten why it looked familiar at first but now I remember. It has a unique magical signature that I had never come across and if I can find it…"

"Then we have Loki." Fury finished. "How long do you think you can take to do that?"

"An hour, maybe two, I'm not sure." Harry said before he turned to Banner. "It has been an honor meeting you Doctor Banner. I hope the next time we see each other you will be more willing to let me take a peek."

And with that, Harry disappeared.

"He can do that?" Steve asked the room at large.

"He can do a lot of things." Fury sighed. "In the meantime, we shall need to use our own resources to look for Loki. Any ideas Doctor?"

"Call every lab you know and tell them to spectrometers on their roofs and calibrate them for gamma rays. I can come up with a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition." Banner said seriously. "Do you have somewhere I can work?"

Natasha nodded and led him down the hall to where his makeshift lab was. He entered and nearly dropped fainted. The lab was a scientist's wet dream and he forgot he had an escort as he rushed inside and immediately got to work.

-ANLANLANLANL-

 _ **POTTER COVE**_

Harry arrived at his home and went straight to the library. He had been wondering where he had seen the tesseract until he remembered that day he sent Natasha the letter to bring the mirror. Nym had witnessed Fury giving the man Selvig the briefcase the brief case that contained the cube. The Phoenix had told him about the immortal who had compelled Selvig to allow working on the cube but Harry hadn't paid much attention then.

Now it was very clear that it had been Loki. Which meant that he had wanted SHIELD to work on the tesseract and activate its power. Had SHIELD not tampered with it, then perhaps he wouldn't have come in the first place. Therefore, it begs the question why Loki came here in the first place.

Harry looked through his library until he came across one of the few books that talked about Asgard. Flipping quickly, he found the place that talked about the god of mischief. Loki apparently was an adopted son with a great deal of jealous towards his brother Thor, the crown prince of Asgard. The god of mischief had tried numerous times to take over the throne using many his magic, trying and failing to kill either Thor or Odin.

He allied with himself with numerous people and races in his bid to take the throne which even included his kin the Frost Giants and many enemies of Asgard. However, one thing common in all this was that all he cared about was himself. He could easily stab anyone's back so long as it got him what he wanted. All his allies always ended with him betraying them and he made a good number of enemies in his life.

He had been exiled from Asgard numerous times but somehow always managed to worm his way back. It probably had something to do with a prophecy and something called Ragnarok as apparently he was the one supposed to set everything in motion.

However, his life was driven by only one thing. To rule. He wanted to have something where he is worshipped and looked up to as a king. Harry was very sure that the god of mischief had come here to rule planet earth after having failed to usurp the Asgardian throne. What didn't make sense was how he planned to do that. Did the tesseract grant him great powers or something?

According to the book, Loki had been quite powerful in his own right. Loki was a master of manipulation and deceit with superhuman strength, speed, durability and longevity. With his magic, he was capable of astral projection, energy blasts from his hands, flight, illusion casting, inter-dimensional teleportation, shape shifting and telepathy. He had mastered all these skills and he was also a master at conjuration and animation though he could only conjure knives. He had also found a way to cheat death by having his name removed from the book of souls by his sister Hel. Therefore, he could be reincarnated in his current body was destroyed.

Harry found himself grinning widely. If this Loki was similar to the one from his home universe, then it was going to be very fun fighting someone like this. He hadn't been able to have a really decent fight since his battle with Voldemort. While Belasco had been a bit of a challenge, he had been very sure that he would win so there hadn't been much effort.

His fight with the Phoenix had been in the Astral plane so he hadn't gotten to use much if any of his talents apart from making the soul cage. But now, he had someone who could give him a real challenge and make him sweat for the win. He could feel his blood pumping in anticipation for the fight that was sure to come but he pushed back those feelings aside for now. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the tattoo of the Deathly Hallows on his chest as he directed his magic to open a portal.

When he opened his eyes, he was standing in the realm where he first met Luna.

"Hi Harry." Luna greeted happily sitting next to a pond that hadn't been there the first time. "You have been busy."

"So have you." Harry answered conjuring a seat next to her. "You haven't visited me for a while."

"Well, you were training your apprentice and searching ways to go home. I couldn't disturb you." She said as she picked a plate next to her chair. "Do you want some pudding…"

"No thanks." Harry declined wondering where she had even got pudding from. "I want to ask you some questions."

"Ask away."

Harry conjured an illusion of the tesseract in his hand.

"What can you tell me about this."

"That thing contains the space stone." Luna answered. "One of the six infinity stones and that particular one governs space. It grants the wielder absolute control over space so long as they can access its power and know how to wield it."

"So one could open a portal for anything to come thorough from the other side then?" Harry asked as he understood exactly what Loki wanted the cube for. "Like an army."

"Indeed." Luna nodded. "However, the stone can only be wielded by beings of great power. A normal person wouldn't be able to hold it directly for long without being consumed. Not even Loki. Its power is near unlimited as it can take anyone to _anywhere._ It also gives the wielder unlimited control of space and they could do anything space related. There is only one Space stone in the whole multi-verse and it is one of the reasons why you were brought to this particular universe _._ "

Harry waited for Luna to see if she would elaborate on what she meant but she just continued eating her pudding like she it had been someone else talking and not her. It was as if he had even been forgotten that he was still here. Shaking his head, Harry decided to go back to his home dimension. Getting a direct answer from Luna was like trying to catch the wind without magic. He was surprised she had even told him that much.

Finding himself back in the library, Harry stood up and went to the living room. He activated his mirror to call Illyana. His apprentice had been dragged by Anne and Jean to go along with them on a trip organized by the girls at the mansion. When he went in the morning for his Lucha Libre match, he had left them as they tried to convince her.

"Hey Lya, I see they managed to _convince_ you." Harry said when he answered. They were in some kind of forest.

"More like forced." Illyana huffed. "Though I'm glad I came; this has been so much fun."

"Really." Harry smiled at her enthusiasm.

"Yeah, Nym is enjoying herself very much." Illyana said glancing at the phoenix in question who was enjoying the attention from the rest of the girls. "I don't think I'll be coming back today, if that is ok with you."

"Sure take your time… it is quite peaceful here without you bansheeing around the whole place." Harry smirked

"Hey, there is no such a thing as bansheeing."

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is... hey aren't you supposed to be the adult here?"

"Oh, now you are calling me an old man?" Harry narrowed his eyes at her. "Anyway, just be careful alright, something is happening and I would be most displeased if you died on me."

"Oh, ok." Illyana said seriously. "What is it?"

"Nothing to worry about hopefully." Harry told her. "Now, about bansheeing…"

Illyana just hung up on him. He called Natasha.

"Hi, Harry any luck."

"Not yet, I was hoping seeing your beautiful face would give me some." Harry answered. "Oh, hi Doctor Banner."

Banner's blushing face disappeared from behind Natasha and he could hear him grumbling about physics and magic.

"Well we aren't having much luck either." Natasha said. "I imagine you have a reason to call me?"

"Yeah about that tesseract… Loki is planning to use it to open a portal."

"It can do that?"

"Yep." Harry answered. "He just needs to find a way of stabilizing the portal long enough for his army or whatever he plans to bring to help him take over the planet."

"Iridium!" Banner exclaimed appearing behind Natasha.

"What?"

"It is a stabilizing agent and it would keep the portal open long enough for whatever is on the other side to come through."

"Been eavesdropping on out conversation Bruce?" Harry frowned at him as the man stuttered out an apology.

"Forget him." Natasha said. "We can now narrow down our search to Germany as that is where the biggest stock of Iridium is. Thanks Harry."

"Always a pleasure." Harry answered before he hung up. He decided to take a shower and eat something before the shit hit the fan.

-ANLANLANLANL-

 _ **Helicarrier**_

Back at the Helicarrier, there was a flurry of activity as the new information was put to use and a few minutes later, their efforts were rewarded.

"Sir we got a hit." One agent came over to Fury holding a pad. "Seventy percent match."

"Location?" Coulson asked.

"Stuttgart, 28 Konigstrasse Germany.

"Well, it seems Potter has his uses after all." Fury said and turned to Steve. "Captain you're up."

All he got was a nod as Steve got up and left the room to suit up.

"Agent Romanoff, contact Potter and tell him to join you with Steve." He told her and she nodded following Steve out of the room.

"Harry." she spoke when he answered. "We have a hit and we are heading there to meet our stray god."

"Oh, well I will be joining you as soon as possible. I am a bit busy right now."

"You are soaking in a bath tab."

"Yeah, like I said, Busy. Just try not to die before I arrive." Harry insisted and hung up.

A few minutes later, Natasha and Captain America were seated in a Quinjet on their way to Germany with Natasha on the controls.

"Your friend not joining us." Captain America asked.

"He will but he is currently _busy_." Natasha answered.

"He doesn't seem to care much about what is happening."

"Oh he does." Natasha said with a smile. "He just tries to convince himself that he doesn't."

"I don't understand."

"His life up to this point has been about saving others and putting other people before him." Natasha explained. "He feels like he has been over used and now wants to try putting his needs before those of others but he just can't help it. Apparently he has a saving people thing."

The rest of the flight was spent in companionable silence broken occasionally. Natasha knew that Harry had found out more than just the fact that Loki plans to open a portal. Though she doubted it had been in the library. She assumed it had something to do with Luna, whoever she was. Harry always talked about Luna though Natasha had never met her. From what she had gathered, Luna had been close to Harry in his home universe which didn't make sense as she knew Harry had no contact with anybody back home.

Soon they were in Germany air space and on one monitor there was a live feed and she could see Loki with some kind of armor and helmet on, along with a green cape had somehow multiplied himself and was standing around a crowd of people kneeling before him. A few minutes later, the Stuttgart Museum came into view and Natasha lowered the Quinjet a small distance away for Captain America to get off. She then took back to the air and came closer to the museum. On the screen, Loki was still talking.

"Is not this simpler?" Loki's voice reverberated around the yard. "This is the unspoken truth of humanity that you all crave subjugation. You were made to be ruled by gods like me. And in the end, you will always end up on your knees before the mighty power of your god. You will _always_ kneel"

"Not to men like you." An elder man declared defiantly as he refused to kneel and Natasha brought the Quinjet in shooting range of Loki knowing the Asgardian would take insult at being defied.

"There are no men like me." Loki said with a smirk.

"There are always men like you." It was clear to Natasha that the man had a death wish, though she had to admire his spirit.

"Look to your elder and let him be an example." Loki declared as he pointed his scepter at the older man.

The gem on the scepter glowed blue and a beam of energy shoots out towards the still standing man. Natasha was about to open fire when Captain America dived in front of the man and blocked the energy beam which was reflected back to Loki and he was blasted onto his ass as the other Lokis disappeared.

"The last time I was in Germany, a man stood in front of people like you just did." Captain America said straitening up. "We disagreed."

"Ah the soldier." Loki said as he got up dusting himself. "A man out of time."

Natasha by this point was in position and had the gun pointed right at Loki.

"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down." Natasha said but had to swerve to dodge an energy blast from Loki's scepter.

However, that gave Capt. America an opening and he threw his shield at Loki who batted it away. And dodged Steve's fists with little to no effort. He then grabbed Steve's hand that had been directed at his face while at the same time holding his neck. With surprising strength, he lifted Captain America and slammed his back onto the concrete floor. Cap swung his legs knocking Loki to the ground and made to take advantage but Loki rolled away and grabs the scepter.

In the meantime, Cap grabbed his shield just in time as well to shield against an energy beam from Loki. He then ran towards Loki and covered the distance as he prepared to shoot another beam and they engaged in a bit of short range combat, dodging each other's punches while attacking at the same time with almost matched speed. However, it soon became clear that Loki was faster as he got a punch in Captain's stomach then kicked his shin making him kneel on one knee.

Captain America was no slouch though and used the edge of his shield to slam it in Loki's knee. Any normal person would have been broken but Loki only felt pain when he bent down he met an upper-cut from the Captain. Loki fell on his back but teleported away as Captain leaped at his position with his shield braced to smash in his face. The Vibranium shield met with concrete sending sparks flying and disorienting Steve for a moment as his shoulders shook in their sockets from the impact.

"Kneel" Loki said from behind him as he pointed his glowing scepter at his neck.

"Not today." Cap answered and tried to sweep Loki's legs from under him who jumped and made to step on Steve's leg only to get entangled with him and dropping his scepter. The two males started rolling around as one tried to get dominance on the other.

Back in the Quinjet, Natasha huffed in frustration. She had been trying to get a clear shot at Loki while the fight was going on but it was like the Asgardian knew what she was trying to do and kept moving from one place to another, all the time making it harder for her to get a shot. Suddenly music started playing on the Quinjet's speakers and Natasha knew exactly who had arrived.

"Agent Romanoff, miss me?" Tony's voice asked from her comm.

Iron Man flew down towards the fight, his red and gold suit gleaming in the light and blasted Loki off Captain America. He then landed right before his nearly unconscious form and pulled out every piece of weaponry the suit had and pointed all of the at Loki.

"Make your move, Reindeer Games." Tony said as he waited to see what Loki would do. The god of mischief wisely raised his hands in surrender. "Good move."

"Mr. Stark." Captain America said walking towards Iron Man. "A little bit earlier wouldn't have hurt."

"You're welcome." Tony answered giving a pair of cuffs to Steve who handcuffed Loki.

Tony picked Loki's scepter and Captain America's shield and followed the two to the Quinjet.

A few minutes later, the four were back in the sky flying back to the Helicarrier. Natasha's comm beeped and she answered.

" _Said anything yet?"_ Fury asked from the other side.

"Not a word. He is barely conscious."

" _Just get him here. We're low on time."_

"Of course."

When Fury got off, she glanced at Tony and Steve who were watching Loki while talking to each other.

"I don't like it." Steve said with a frown.

"What, big and mighty giving up that easily?" Tony asked in his usual tone.

"It was too easy." Steve shook his head. "It is never that easy, and this guy packs a wallop."

"Still, you're pretty spry for an old fellow." Tony commented looking Steve up and down like he was a commodity. "What's your thing, Pilates?"

"What?"

"I like calisthenics." Tony said. "You missed quite a lot you know, doing time as a Capsicle."

Steve was now utterly confused. He glanced at Natasha who pretended like she wasn't listening.

"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in." Steve said instead changing the topic.

"Yeah, he tends to forget to say a lot of things."

Natasha's mirror beeped.

"Harry."

"Hey Nat, you're in Germany yet?"

"Yeah, at least I think we are."

"Good, don't try to engage Loki directly yet." Harry warned and Natasha raised an eyebrow. "He is very dangerous and none of you are any match for him."

"We already captured Loki."

Natasha resisted the urge to laugh at Harry's expression.

"Wait what, are you sure you have the right Loki."

"That we do, no thanks to you." Tony pipped in from behind Natasha.

"Keep your goatee out of this conversation, Stark." Harry said.

"Oh, it was? I thought she was watching National Geographic or something." Tony replied. "I have to admit whatever this animal is has a disturbing resemblance to a human."

"Ha ha, very funny." Harry replied before he looked at Natasha. "Something isn't right, Loki wouldn't_"

Harry was interrupted as lightning stuck the Quinjet making it lose balance for a second before she got it back under control.

"What is happening?" Harry asked from the floor where the mirror had fallen.

Before she could answer, the ramp opened a tall man with long blonde hair wearing armor and a red cape jumped down next to Loki. He grabbed him by the neck, swung his hammer and flew out.

"Now there is that guy." Tony said as put the Iran Man helmet back on.

"Another Asgardian?" Steve asked grabbing his shield.

"Yeah, the older brother or something like that." Iron Man answered as he prepared to fly out.

"Think the guy is friendly?"

"Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or Kills him, the tesseract is lost." Tony replied.

"We need a plan of attack."

"I have a plan. Attack." Tony replied and flew off after the two Asgardians.

Steve looked at Natasha who had been watching everything with a raised eyebrow.

"Is he insane."

"Probably." Natasha shrugged.

Steve strapped his shield on his back also preparing to jump.

"You should probably sit this one out Cap."

"I don't see how I can." Steve replied.

"These guys are from legends. They are practically gods."

"I only know one God and he doesn't dress like that." And with that the man jumped off the Jet.

"Well that was interesting." Harry commented just as he appeared next to her. "That was fast, I thought you were still in Germany."

"We are traveling Harry; you didn't expect us to be in the same place forever did you?"

"Good point." Harry conceded. "I am still having a hard time believing that these guys are the real deal."

"Aren't you going after them?" Natasha asked as Harry was looking at Loki's scepter.

"Oh, I guess I should." He sighed. "Someone has to make sure they don't kill themselves."


	14. Chapter 14

**A NEW LIFE**

 **Chapter 23**

 _Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners._

 _AN: I adopted some of the lines in this chapter direct from the movie AVENGERS. Some of them were just too good that I couldn't resist while others were very technical that I couldn't make heads or tails on them so please bear with me._

 _Anyway, this chapter should finish the Avengers Arc. But that doesn't mean the action is finished so more action will be coming and most importantly more Magic._

-ANLANLANLANL-

 _ **Somewhere in the European mountains.**_

Harry hissed at his ring to suit up and he activated his invisibility. Something told him things were going to be interesting down there and he was planning on making an entrance. He jumped off the Quinjet and activated his flight as he floated towards the mountain side where he knew Thor and Loki were. He saw Iron Man flying around as he looked for the two, apparently not seeing them.

He floated down and saw Loki looking away from his adopted brother with a faraway look in his eye.

"…seen the true power of the Tesseract." Loki was saying. "I have found knowledge on how to wield the stone within. And when I do, nothing will stop in my way."

"And where did you find this knowledge?" Thor asked. "Did ever occur to you that whoever gave it to you is using you?"

"I am the smart one _brother._ " Harry could almost taste Loki's amusement in the air. "And it doesn't matter to me. I have been denied for so long, always staying in the shadows, in _your_ shadow. But no more Odinson, now I take what I rightfully deserve."

"You don't deserve nothing." Thor thundered. "And not the world love. The world under my protection. You give up the Tesseract and this foolish dream. You come back home Loki."

"Asgard has never been my home." Loki answered, his lips twitching and Harry followed his line of sight to see Iron Man flying towards them at a very high speed. "Not to mention you need the cube to take me home and I will not give it to you."

Mjolnir flew into Thor's hand as he made to step towards Loki.

"You listen brother_"

Thor was tackled by Iron Man and the two fell off the mountain.

"I am listening." Loki snorted and Harry felt that was his cue.

"Are you really?" He asked from behind Loki who whirled around with a knife in his handcuffed hands and pointed it at Harry's throat. They were almost the same height.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Loki asked with narrowed eyes.

"No one to concern yourself with." Harry said uncaringly as he moved away from the knife and looked at the fight going on down the mountain. "I am actually not surprised you don't about me like you seem to know all the others."

Loki was quiet waiting for Harry to do something. He was sure whoever this person was, he was quite confident in himself or maybe just arrogant to turn his back on him when he knew that he was holding a knife. The fact that he couldn't concentrate on his face was worrying as well as his seeming not to have a mind as Loki couldn't seem to pick anything with his telepathy.

"You came to the wrong planet, Loki Laufeyson."

"How do you know that name?" Loki demanded.

"I know a lot of things." Harry answered his lips twitching. "I hope our next one on one meeting will not be this boring."

Harry then jumped down the mountain towards the fight between Iron Man and Thor. It was only after he left that Loki realized that the idiot had been hoping to fight him. Him, a god. Loki scoffed at the idea as he waited for the idiots finish their pissing contest and take him to the battleship already. After all, he had places to be. He was however intrigued with the other man. Maybe he was a sorcerer of some kind, earth seemed to be full of those these days ever since the idiot wizards got themselves killed.

-ANLANLANLANL-

Harry arrived on the ground just as Thor grabbed Iron Man and slammed him on the ground, his face filled with Fury. He summoned his hammer and lifted it to smash Iran Man and Harry erected a shield above Tony. Thor's hammer came down and collided with Harry's shield shattering it. The shock wave sent Thor flying into a couple of trees while Iron Man had managed to fly away just before the hammer impacted with the shield.

The two fighters got back up and Thor summoned back his hammer while Tony powered his repulsors ready to continue the fight but Harry decided to speak up then.

"That's enough." Harry spoke, his magic enhancing his voice a little to be heard very clearly throughout the destroyed clearing and he looked at Thor. "What the heck are you doing here?"

"I am here to stop Loki."

"Then prove it and put the hammer down." Captain America said as he landed next to Iron Man.

"Bad idea." Tony muttered as Thor's eyes hardened.

He leaped up towards the two with a loud cry raising his hammer while Captain America crouched down and raised his shield in front of both him and Stark. Harry knowing what would come having already experienced with his shield crouched down and erected a dome shaped shield above around himself. The hammer impacted with the vibranium shield cause a loud sound and an implosion of light that sent the three flying while at the same time leveling all the trees in the surrounding.

When they picked themselves up Harry was looking at them with a disappointed frown.

"Are we done here?" Harry asked as the others eyed themselves. "Because I would really like to go and sleep now and Natasha wouldn't forgive me if I left you unattended."

"How are you still standing?" Cap asked.

"Magic, my old fellow."

The four soon came to an understanding that they were on the same side and Thor joined the other two to escort Loki to the Helicarrier. Harry excused himself and told Natasha that he would be by the Helicarrier early the next morning and teleported back to Potter Cove. Tony flew off a minute later and Thor sat opposite Loki and was dozing not more than a minute after.

Natasha wandered just what kind of team they were going to end up with. With three very powerful men, each with an ego twice as big as the others, now joined by another with a god-complex. Somehow she knew that it would work out in the end though getting there would most definitely be interesting.

Steve went by the rules as much as possible and it was impossible to change his mind when he decides on something. Tony on the other hand was someone who had a hard time taking anything seriously and had no concerns about insulting someone. She knew these two were going to conflict a lot and despite how hard the thought was, Harry would most likely be the middle man.

Harry also was going to be a problem. He had absolutely no respect for anyone who hasn't earned it and despised being ordered around. At least Fury already knew this and left him to do whatever he felt was the best. Thor was an unknown. However, despite their differences, Natasha knew that if they worked together, they would form a very formidable team, probably the very best in world history.

-ANLANLANLANL-

Harry woke up the next day at his usual time. Knowing that Wales was five hours ahead of New York, he took his time to have his daily work out and have a very heavy breakfast. He didn't bother to call Illyana as was probably still sleeping. After breakfast, he turned into his animagus form and stretched his wing for about an hour flying through the dark forest seeing what kinds of animals had settled there. the next few hours he spent them in the greenhouse with the elves that tended to the plants inside.

At exactly twelve, he went back to his potions lab and loaded a couple of potions in his mokeskin pouch. Mostly pepper-up and blood replenishing potions. He added one of the five vails he had for Essence of dittany and one vail of Nym's tears. With everything packed, he ate lunch and shrunk a few boxes of donuts and by the time he completed all his preparations, it was already half past two in the afternoon. He concentrated on Natasha and teleported to the Helicarrier.

He appeared behind her in the conference/briefing room. She as well as Steve and Banner were watching on some screen as Fury seemed to be talking to Loki in the glass cell where Harry was locked when he had just arrived. Thor was seated on the table eating what was likely breakfast given it was morning though the amount of roast lamb and baked potato would probably disagree. He also had a jug of juice next to the bowls and wasn't concerned with what was going on.

"Hello Natasha." Harry greeted the redhead and sighed when she didn't jump like Banner. "You are looking quite sunny this morning."

"Harry." Natasha answered with a smile. "You sure took your time."

"Well as much as I like gazing at your beautiful face all the time." Harry began and she rolled her eyes. "I had to make some preparations, something tells me today will be a very long day. Doctor Banner, Captain Rogers, nice weather we are having today."

"Hope it stays that way." Steve answered.

"Just how much do you eat for lunch?" Harry asked sitting next to Thor. "I mean you are a mini feast here and I'm having a hard time imagining what you would consider a feast if this is you for breakfast."

"I am a god; we don't get fat."

"Well you are about to change that." Harry answered. "So, what do you think is little brother's plan."

Thor swallowed what was remaining of his food and gulped down the jug of juice. When he was finished, he stood up and looked out the window.

"Well from what I know he has an army called the Chitauri." He answered. "They are not of Asgard or any word known and their numbers are too many no one knows how many they are. He plans to lead them against your world and they will help him win in exchange for the Tesseract."

"Seriously, an army from outer space?" Steve asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Which means that he took Erik Selvig to help him to open the portal." Banner pipped in.

"What is with Selvig?" Thor asked suddenly and Harry assumed he knew the scientist.

"Loki has him under some kind of mind control spell along with some of our own agents." Natasha asked and Harry's eyes widened.

"Mind control, does that mean he has Robinhood?" Natasha nodded. "But how is he able to control so many people."

"You don't seem surprised." Steve observed.

"Yeah, it's not exactly news to me but it would take a lot of effort and power to control that many."

"Can you do it?" Banner asked.

"Sure, you want a demonstration?"

"Uhm no I think I'll pass."

"So you are really a wizard?" Thor asked looking at Harry. "I thought those died out."

"Long story I am not about to share anytime soon." Harry waved him off. "I think we should focus on Loki here and why he allowed to be captured that easily."

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki." Banner said. "That guy is insane; I could almost smell crazy on him before you guys even arrived here last night."

"Have care how you speak." Thor glared at Banner. "Loki may be beyond reason but he is my family, he is my brother and I will not stand here as you speak that way about him."

"Well your _precious brother_ killed eighty people in two days." Tony Stark said as he entered the room. Then he turned to Thor. "No hard feelings though Point Break, you have got a mean swing."

Then he turned to the rest.

"He wants Selvig and Iridium to help keep the portal as long as possible for his little army. The rest of the material Agent Burton can find easily." He turns around the monitor and Harry noticed him put something under the desk where Fury usually sat though the others seemed not to notice. "Only major component he still needs is a power source, something with great power that could kick start the cube."

The others looked at him blankly like he was talking rocket theory.

"Please tell me I am not the only one who read those ridiculous notes and extraction papers." When the others all shrugged.

"Does Loki need a particular kind of power source?" Steve asked.

"He's got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million kelvins just to break through the Coulomb barrier." Banner answered.

Harry wisely kept himself out of the conversation knowing that wherever it was headed wasn't safe for him and he would probably end up embarrassing himself.

"Yeah there is that." Tony conceded. "Unless of course Selvig found a way to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect."

Banner's eyes widened.

"Well in that case he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet."

"Finally someone who speaks English." Tony beamed at the gamma expert and shook his hand. "It's good to meet you Dr. Banner your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I am a big fan of the way you get angry an enormous green monster."

"You are not the only one." Banner said glancing at Harry with a wince as the wizard's eyes were now shinning.

"So it's anger then." Harry said getting to his feet. "I can think of a hundred ways of making you angry."

"Can we focus here." Fury barked as he entered and glared at Harry. "Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping, Mr. Stark that you would join him."

"Let us begin with that Loki's stick." Steve said looking at Loki's scepter that was lying on the table innocently.

"I think it is powered by the cube and I would really like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into personal flying monkeys." Fury said.

"I think Clint would disagree with the 'sharpest men' part." Harry commented as he walked towards the scepter. "This is what he used you say…"

"Yeah, Agent Burton took a shot meant for me before his eyes kind of glazed over and then he joined him."

Harry frowned as he let his mage senses on high alert. He could feel that the gem also had an aura similar to the tesseract as well as Stephen's eye but it was unique in its own way.

"I don't think it is powered by the cube at all." He declared with a frown. "It is related to the cube but its power is unique and has its own power source though I have no idea what. It has a magical signature that I'm not familiar with but from the aura coming from it, I would assume it has a great affinity with things related to the mind."

"Yeah I don't about the voodoo part but I am sure we can figure something out." Stark said. "Why don't you bring that over and see if we can find anything."

Harry picked the scepter and felt the power pass through him, he could feel the gem trying to connect with his magic and his mind almost immediately and he waved his hand over it creating an invisible bubble over it and it stopped. However, he could feel the gem's power fighting against his shield in its effort to connect with him.

"Are you coming Mr. Potter?" Banner asked from the door snapping him out of his thoughts and he followed him to the lab.

-ANLANLANLANL-

Harry sat at a table as he made notes in his journal under a large heading _The_ _Mind Stone_. Having experienced the magical signatures from the cube through Nym, then Stephen's necklace, and now this gem on Loki's scepter. He had put two and two together and figured that Stephen's necklace and the scepter also contained two of the six stones according to what Luna told him.

From what he had seen the stones do, he deduced that the one with Stephen was the time stone basing from what he had seen in their battle with the phoenix and the similar magical signature from the space stone. Seeing that this one also had a similar signature and it seemed to have powers related to the mind for the most part, then it was only logical that it was the mind stone.

He wondered if the Sorcerer Supreme was aware that his necklace contained the time stone and made a note to ask him when they met. Luna had said that the space stone gives the wielder _absolute control_ over space so long as one can access its power. Did it mean that the time stone and the mind stone also give absolute control over their respective fields? It was a scary thought. The only consolation he could give himself was that not anyone could wield the stones.

Luna had told him that Loki wouldn't be capable of wielding the space stone himself. Therefore, he would have to use it indirectly which meant he could never access its full potential. The same applied to the mind stone. While he could access a bit of its power through his scepter, he would just be accessing a small fragment of it. It was testimony to the stone's power that he was capable of controlling all those people without any conscious effort and even when he wasn't in contact with his scepter.

"I can't seem to get any radiation coming from it." Banner said in confusion as he ran the gamma ray detector over the tesseract. "It's like something is in the way."

"Oh, sorry." Harry said. "I put a containment bubble around it."

Waving his hand, he dispelled the bubble and Banner started getting readings.

"The gamma readings are actually consistent with doctor Selvig's reports though it's gonna take weeks to process."

"Don't worry, so long as we bypass SHIELD's mainframe and direct a re-route to the Homer cluster, we can clock this around six hundred teraflops." Tony said as he moved away from the monitors. "You know; you should come by Stark Tower some time. Top ten floors all R&D, you would love it. And I am talking about Banner not Gandalf over there."

Harry just shook his head. He had read Lord of the Rings, curious about what they had written and he wasn't exactly sure what to think of the book. He stood up and decided to try something he had been wanting to do ever since they entered the lab.

"Thanks but last time I was in New York things didn't work out well at Harlem" Banner answered leaning on the table Harry had been working at.

"Well I promise a stress free environment." Tony said discreetly picking a miniature electrical prod. "No tension, no surprises and no disturbances."

Harry put his finger near Banner's neck and shot a miniature bolt of lightning at him while Tony at the same time poked him with the prod. Banner jumped at the lightning and the small shock as he walked away from the two men who were looking at him in anticipation. After some few seconds it became clear that he wasn't going to transform.

"Oh come on." Harry groaned.

"Nothing?"

"Hey are you guys nuts." Steve having walked in earlier glared at them.

"You really have gotten a lid on it have you." Tony said. "So what's your secret, mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Bag of weed?"

"Maybe its donuts? Like a whole sack of them every morning?" Harry suggested.

"Can't you guys take anything serious." Steve asked pissed. "Is everything a joke to you?"

Harry shrugged, not in the mood to explain himself. Tony though…

"Funny things are."

"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny."

"Oh cut the guy some slack." Harry said patting Banners shoulders. "He wouldn't have come here if he couldn't handle pointy sticks."

Steve looked like he wanted to say something but Tony changed the conversation with all the subtlety of a bull.

"Why did Fury call us anyway, why now and not before or earlier." Stark said walking away but not after poking Banner again for good measure. "Something tells me there is a lot of things he isn't telling us."

"You think he is keeping secrets from us?" Steve asked and Tony looked at him like he is insane.

"He is a spy Captain. Those guys have secrets with in secrets." He pointed at Banner. "It is bugging him too, though Potter seems to have an idea."

Banner looked away stuttering slightly as he tried to change the topic.

"Doctor?" Steve asked firmly and he sighed.

"'A warm light for all mankind'." He answered. "That is what Loki said. I think it was meant for Mr. Stark even if Barton didn't post that all over the news."

"Stark Tower?" Steve asked with a frown.

"It is powered by Stark reactors and the building will run itself for a year." Stark looked proud of himself. "By the way I am kind of the only name in clean energy right now."

"So why didn't they bring you for the project." Steve asked in confusion. "Why are they in the energy business in the first place?"

"I know for a fact that they are using it to make weapons of some kind." Harry said drawing attention to himself.

"And you know that how?"

"I have my ways." Harry answered mysteriously.

"We shall know for sure once I'm done breaking into SHIELD's files." Tony said and Steve blinked at him.

"Say what now?"

"Jarvis has been doing that ever since I entered." Tony said casually. "We shall soon know all of SHIELD's dirty secrets."

Steve looked at him for a few seconds to see if he was joking before he shook his head.

"I think Loki is just messing with us all." Harry could see that he was just trying to convince himself. "Let us just focus here. We have orders, we must follow them."

"Yeah following orders isn't exactly my thing." Harry said as he unshrunk a box of donuts.

"Not my style either."

"Oh and you are all about style aren't you?"

"Oh please…" Tony spoke up staring at him. "Tell me one thing, how many people in this room are wearing a spangly outfit or not of use. What did you come to do here in the first place?"

"I imagine something important but he forgot because of our charming presence." Harry answered as he stepped between the two. "So why don't you go and have some time to think about what was said here and you leave us to find the cube."

Steve gave one last glare to Tony and stormed out of the room.

"That is the guy Dad would never shut up about." Tony scoffed. "I am beginning to wander why they never left him in the ice."

"I think it's Loki." Banner said and Tony scoffed at him.

"But anyway, he has got a point." Harry said as he sat down with legs on the table and picked another donut. "He is a master manipulator and I wouldn't put it past him to find a way of messing with us all."

"This thing is gonna blow up in that guy's face and I'll be there to laugh about it." Tony said pointing at the door Steve had walked through, apparently still upset.

"And I'll read about it." Banner mumbled quietly.

"Or, you will suit up like the rest of us."

"Not me, I am a nightmare."

"You know." Tony said sitting next to the man while Harry watched silently. "I have got a cluster of shrapnel trying to crawl into my heart. And it is only this small circle of light keeping me alive. It is part of me now, not just the armor."

"You can control it."

"Because I learned how."

"Wait a minute right there." Harry said and the other two paused. "You are saying you have things about to pierce your heart and have no way of removing them?"

"Well I spoke in English I would imagine you would have understood easily."

"Can I have a look?" Harry asked. "I could probably help remove them without even needing an operation."

"By using your voodoo I assume?"

"Yeah, I assume it would take no more than an hour." Harry answered and Tony was quiet for a moment.

"You know what, why don't we talk about this later, I was kind of in the middle of an inspiration speech."

"Of course." Harry took back his seat.

"Excellent, now where was I, ah yes. I read all about your little accident and I am very sure that much gamma exposure should have killed you."

"You are saying that the Hulk…" Banner's tone was thoughtful. "that the _other guy_ saved my life? But why?"

"I guess we shall find out." Tony said as he went back to his work.

At that moment Harry felt his connection with Natasha's mirror give a jolt. Or more specifically the connection he put to notify him when someone tried to use telepathy on her.

"That son of a bitch." Harry said and rushed out of the room. The other two occupants exchanged a glance and shrugged.

He ran towards the briefing room to find Fury talking with Thor and Coulson.

"Where is Natasha?"

"Agent Romanoff is in the middle of an interrogation." Fury answered and Harry looked at one of the monitors to see her seated on a chair in front of Loki's cell.

"That fool is trying to read her mind."

He made to run out of the room but Fury grabbed his left arm. "Romanoff knows what she is doing, don't try to interfere.

Using his more than normal human strength, Harry pried Fury's hand from his arm using his right hand.

"Touch me again Fury, and I swear to Luna you will sit out this crisis hanging on the wall, is that _hang out_?" He told him his eyes glowing slightly. "Now I don't know about you but Natasha knows a lot of my secrets and I would rather someone like Loki not find out about them."

Harry teleported next to Natasha.

"That is enough Loki." He said putting his hand on her shoulder. "And I suggest you think twice before trying to read my mind, 'cause I assure you it won't be pretty."

The shields he had enchanted with Natasha's mirror were not strong enough to keep a powerful telepathy like Loki out of her mind. That was why he put the connection to notify him whenever they were about to be breached and had he reached a second later, it would have been too late.

"Reading my mind." Natasha looked like a mixture of anger and fear. "You are a monster."

She flung her chair at Loki's cell and the god of mischief smirked.

"No, _you_ brought the _monster_."

At that point Natasha's face went through a one eighty and a smirk appeared on her face.

"So Banner… that's your play uh." Loki staggered in surprise and Natasha activated her comm. "Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, we on our way."

Then she turned and quickly walked out leaving a gaping Loki.

"Yeah she is _that_ scary." Harry nodded at him and followed the redhead back to the lab.

They met Thor on the way who looked at Harry in question. He just shrugged and continued walking. When they entered, Harry could feel the tension in the air, Steve and Banner were glaring at Fury while Tone stood observing the proceedings with his hands in his pockets. There were some kind of guns on the table in front of Fury. When they entered, Banner's glare switched to Natasha.

"Did you know about this?" He demanded gesturing to the weapons.

"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment doctor?" Natasha asked and Harry knew that it wasn't what the man wanted to hear.

"I was in Calcutta; I was pretty well removed."

"Loki is manipulating you."

"And you are doing what exactly?" Banner snapped and Harry could have sworn a green tinge appeared on his neck. "I would like to know why SHIELD is using the tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

"Because of those two." Fury said pointing at Harry and Thor.

"Say what now?"

"Me?"

"Last year, earth had two visitors from other planets. One had a grudge match that levelled a small town and the other completely undermined all our security like it didn't exist."

"That was me." Harry whispered to Thor.

"We learned that we were hopelessly, hilariously outgunned." Fury continued. "While Asgard is not at war with us, you are not the only threat out there. the world is filling up with people who can't be matched. Who can't be controlled."

"Your work on the tesseract is what drew Loki and his allies." Thor said.

"You forced our hand, we had to come up with something that would have at least leveled the field."

"Nuclear deterrent, 'Cause that always calms everything down." Tony muttered but he was still heard by Fury who turned to him.

"Remind me again how you made your fortune Stark…"

From there it became an argument between everyone. Harry was actually amused to see that everyone had even forgotten why they had come to the lab in the first place. He looked at Banner to see him breathing in and out as if trying to fight the Hulk from coming out. His eyes fell on the scepter to see the mind stone glowing brightly. His eyes moved to the arguing people and then he went back to the gem. His eyes widened when he realized that the gem was manipulating everyone.

It was probably because of his occulmency that he wasn't being affected like the others. It was fueling all their anger and frustrations and by this point they were just a spark away from a fight. Which was exactly what Loki wanted. Knowing that there would be people to oppose him and knowing that they would prove to be a challenge, the god of mischief let himself captured to distract SHIELD while those under his control continued working. The icing on the cake was that he could make them even fight amongst themselves and probably even kill themselves. Harry had to admit it was pretty ingenious. However, he clearly hadn't accounted for Harry when making said plan.

Harry re cast the containment bubble on the tesseract and was about to step in when he saw something interesting happening and decided to wait just a little bit longer.

"I'm beginning to want you to make me" Tony was saying standing in Steve's face.

"Big man in a suit of armor." Steve said reducing the distance between them. "Take that off what are you?"

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." Stark said without missing a beat and Harry snickered to himself.

"You know; you might not be a threat but you better stop pretending to be a hero."

"A hero, like you? You are a lab rat Rogers." Tony said poking Steve in the chest. "Everything special about you came from a bottle."

"Why don't you put on your suit then and we go for a few rounds."

Thor made to speak but Harry put a silencing bubble around him. He wasn't going to interrupt an amazing fight just because someone with a god complex wanted to be heard. However, the moment was ruined when he saw Banner unconsciously lift the scepter and he groaned.

"Guess it won't be happening after all." He muttered to himself before he raised his voice. "Alright, that's enough."

"You have something to say Potter?" Steve asked turning his glare to Harry who wasn't intimidated in the least.

"Yeah and it is shut the fuck up." Harry said walking forward. "Loki has fucked up your minds and he has made you begin fighting each other like underfed puppies and if you don't stop giving me that look I will imagine that you want to attack me and I will defend myself."

"So you think you are_" Steve started to speak but Harry tapped him on the head with a stunning spell on the tip of his finger and the man fell down unconscious.

"What did you do to him?" Fury demanded and Harry glared it him.

"He is taking a nap and you will join him soon if you don't shut up." Then he turned to Banner. "Now Bruce, why don't you put down the scepter and check on the tracking for the scepter."

Banner as if realizing for the first time that he was holding the scepter set it down quickly and went to the monitor.

"Why didn't you do that earlier?" Natasha asked coming to stand next to Banner.

"I was hoping for a quick cat fight but I figured it no longer be called that if the Hulk decided he wanted to join."

Natasha just shook her head in amusement.

"We got a hit."

"I'll go and get it." Tony said but was stopped by Harry.

"No."

"You're gonna stop me?"

"Yes and you know I will. _Enervate._ " Harry waved over Steve and the man regained consciousness. "Back with us Captain?"

"Yeah sorry about that. What happened?"

"Loki happened." Harry pulled the man back to his feet. "Alright, this is what we are_"

He turned to go to Banner whose eyes had just widened when there was an explosion. He felt the floor give out as he fell down to the next floor which gave out as well and he continued up to what appeared to be the lower equipment room.

"And just when I was beginning my bloody speech."

Harry levitated the debris that had fallen on him to the side. He looked around but he seemed to be the only one around. Alarm bells were ringing loudly and he could only imagine the pandemonium up there.

"Hello… Guys?" Harry called.

"Harry, a little help here and please hurry up." Natasha seemed to be panicking and he immediately teleported next to her. She was stuck under some pieces though they thankfully hadn't fallen on her, just in the way that she couldn't get out herself. She was looking at Banner who was breathing heavily, his voice laced with a growl.

"Is he changing?" Harry asked as he levitated the things off her.

"Yeah, we need to get out of here." Natasha stood up and started running as Banner's clothes started tearing. "Harry?"

"You go ahead and help others." Harry said looking at Banner as he slowly turned into Hulk. "I'll keep this little one company while you guys handle whatever is happening up there.

Natasha ran back and hugged him tightly, then pressed her forehead on his.

"Don't you dare die you hear me?" Natasha demanded, her green eyes boring into his emeralds as she breathed heavily.

"Don't worry about me dying any time soon or the nearby future." Harry assured her running his hands through her hair. Their moment however was interrupted by a roar from Hulk. "Now run, Natasha, RUN."

She nuzzled her cheek on Harrys one more time then she turned on her heel and took off. Harry slowly turned to the Hulk.

"Well, now it is jus_" He was cut off as Hulk back handed him and sent him through the wall to the next room. He picked himself up and turned only to look in Hulk's angry face. "Fuck."

Hulk punched him again and sent him flying through two more rooms and Harry was sure there was a bruise on his head though he could feel it already healing. The green enraged monster tore through the walls as he came after Harry again who wisely teleported to the other room.

"Look mate, I am a big fun of you and I don't want to hurt you." Harry tried diplomacy as the green giant ran at him while at the same time hissing at his ring to suit up. "Are you even listening to a word I am saying?"

His answer was the Hulk giving a loud cry as he destroyed the wall between them and leapt at him. Only to be tackled mid-air by Harry who was flying in a spear, one of his favorite moves in Lucha Libre. The two fell on the floor and Harry rolled away. Before the Hulk could get to his feet, he banished him sending him through another room. Harry flew towards where the Hulk had fallen.

"We are on the same side Hulk, let us not hurt each other." Harry said floating next to the downed form of the green monster. "Violence is never the answer, at least that is what some guy said. Personally I thin_"

Hulk caught Harry's cloak cutting off his rant and swung him around a few times like a slingshot before flinging him like a through the ceiling of the room. Harry was sent flying through two ceilings before he collided with the third one which refused to break and he landed on the floor. He directed his magic to his brain getting rid of the dizziness immediately just as Hulk leaped through the holes Harry had created.

"Well, at least I tried." Harry shrugged and his wand appeared in his hand as his lips spread into a grin. "This should be fun."

Hulk turned at Harry and received a _Reducto_ in the shoulder which shattered said shoulder and sent him flying. Hulk let out a roar of anger and pain as he got back to his feet even as his shoulder started healing. Before he could stand up well, a rope shot out of Harry's wand and wrapped around his legs. Harry flew away sending Hulk back to his back and then started dragging him on the floor and into other things destroying them.

Somehow, Hulk managed to grab the rope but Harry just vanished it. He then grabbed the giant with his magic in an imitation of telekinesis then went ahead to toss him around like a ragdoll. He put him down and sent a mild-powered blasting curse in the giant's chest and sent him flying only to summon him back immediately right into a magic enhanced fist, right in the face. Not giving him time to recover, he flew very fast towards the giant and impacted him with a drop kick and teleported where he was to fall and shot an upper hook at the Hulk's chin and sent him through the ceiling.

SHIELD agents ran out of the way as the green giant slid along the floor. He landed and spat a mouthful of blood as Harry flew through the hole and Harry floated slowly to the floor. Harry looked around and realized that they were in the Aircraft PORT of the Hellicarier.

"Alright big guy." Harry spoke slowly while he fired calming charms towards the crouching giant, _finally_ remembering that Banner became Hulk when he was angry. He was thankful that charms didn't have colors like spells and hexes. He could however see that they were not working nearly as much as he wanted. "I will not hurt you. We are on the same sides and we could be friends."

Hulk looked at Harry silently for a few seconds and Harry felt that it was safe to continue talking while still showing the giant with calming charms.

"I know you want to smash right…" Hulk nodded, still eying Harry suspiciously. "So do I, but now isn't the time for smashing but I guarantee you will be having a lot of things to smash. Now relax, I am your friend and I will not hurt you or let… the fuck?"

Harry saw movement in the corner of his eye and he looked to see three jets preparing to fire at Hulk. Before he could say anything, they opened fire. Harry erected a shield in front of him out of reflex but he never got to shield Hulk who took the bullets in the chest. He broke the calming charms and bellowed in anger at the jets that had stopped firing. Hulk leaped at one of the jets, pulled off parts of the jet making it spin around before it exploded sending Hulk pummeling towards the ground.

Harry cursed and dove off the ship and shot after the falling giant who was falling at a ridiculous speed.

" _ **IMMOBULUS"**_

Harry shouted and the Hulk's decent was reduced by nearly half. He had to recast the charm three times before Hulk stopped falling and for some reason transformed back to Banner. A naked Banner with his trouser barely stopping him from being completely naked. Harry turned the other side as he tried to erase the image from his mind. He cast a _reparo_ on the trouser and it was transformed back to how it was before the change.

He looked back to Banner to see that he was having trouble breathing as they were still in space. He cast a bubble-head charm at him.

"Thanks. What happened?"

"Wait you mean you don't remember?"

"No." Banner said as Harry flew back to the Helicarrier while Banner trailed behind him. "The memories of when I am the other guy are usually just a blur."

"Me and you we are going to have a very long conversation after this." Harry informed the man before he grabbed him and teleported to the detention section where Loki was being held only to arrive in time to summon Thor who had been running full sprint at an illusion of Loki.

Thor looked at Harry before he looked back at the illusion which shimmered and disappeared. The real Loki was nowhere to be seen even to Harry's senses and no one with a soul was capable of hiding from him. Natasha soon joined them and gave Harry a hug before she turned to Banner.

"Good to see you back Doctor."

"It is good to be back."

-ANLANLANLANL-

AN: Alright, people I have to say I never expected the chapter to end up this long though I hope you like it. I do not want to change deviate too much from the movie as the events of _Avengers_ set in motion a lot of things that happened in MCU so bear with me for now. I assure you though that the _Age of Ultron_ arc will be very different from the movies.

Next chapter, Battle of New York and its most immediate effects.


	15. Chapter 15

**A NEW LIFE**

 **Chapter 15**

 _Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners._

AN: The Loki I'm using in this fic is the Loki in the comics which means he is more powerful than the one who was portrayed in the movies.

-ANLANLANLANL-

 _ **A few minutes later.**_

Harry frowned as he entered Natasha's bunk that she occupied while at the Helicarrier wondering what was up. The redhead had told him, or rather ordered him to go to meet her in her room as she talked with Clint. He knew he was in trouble for something though he couldn't figure out what. Before he could enter, he was stopped by Fury. The Dark skinned man looked like shit. He was sporting a wound on the shoulder and had a limp. Harry considered helping him before he shook off the thought, he pissed at the man.

"Mr Potter, could you and Agent Romanoff go to the briefing room."

"What, so you can give your stupid orders?" Harry snapped at him.

"What are you talking about."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." Harry hissed getting in his face and he satisfied to see that he was tall than the SHIELD director. "Tell me, what were you thinking when you ordered your minions to shoot at Hulk."

"I don't answer to you, Potter." Fury answered but Harry grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the wall.

"You damm well do if you put those I care about in danger." Harry snarled, his eyes shining with anger. "Banner may not exactly be my friend but I do care about him to some extent. Now _tell me_ why you fucking shot at him."

Unbeknownst to Harry his magic along with the high emotions compelled Fury to do exactly that, his eyes glazing slightly.

"I wanted to get him off the ship." Fury answered in a monotone. "Your fight was damaging the ship and I knew that unless I did something people would get hurt."

"Did it ever occur to you for even one fucking second that I had things under control?" Harry snarled, his grip on Fury's neck tightening.

"What has gotten into you?"

" _Answer the fucking question_?" Harry slammed him into the wall upsetting the wound on the man's shoulder while his eyes glazed over.

"I… had no... idea." Fury gasped out while Harry's grip on his neck tightened. "I…I thought_"

"You _thought_?" Harry shouted. "You _thought_ that it was fine to drop someone to the ground all the way from up here. You _thought_ and maybe hoped that killing off Banner would have saved you the trouble of dealing with the Hulk in the future didn't you?"

"Harry, you are killing him." Natasha said grabbing his hands but Harry back handed her straight into the wall. She probably would have been able to dodge it but it happened so fast and was unexpected that she only realized what had happened when she impacted the wall. Half a second later, Harry's brain registered what he had done and he dropped Fury while staring at his hands in horror.

"Oh Luna what have I done… what is happening to me?" Harry ran to Natasha. "I am so sorry Nat, I don't know what came over me, I was just so angry and I… I just… oh God."

"Hey… hey Harry, HARRY." Natasha shouted at him. "Go… you go back to Potter Cove and sort yourself."

"But…I hit you Nat, I just hit you…what is happening… I can't leave you here what if_"

"Harry, go right now." Natasha said as she grabbed his face. "I know, this isn't you, this is not the man I know and care about. Now get off your fucking ass and look for that man before you show your face to me again you hear me?"

"Yeah, of course." Harry nodded standing up and staggering slightly. He glanced at Fury who was holding his bleeding shoulder and watching the two. "NYM!"

Harry disappeared in a flash of lightning and Natasha went to help Fury back to his feet.

"What is wrong with him?"

"I have no idea." Natasha answered quietly. "I was hoping to kick him in the butt to sober him up but then he met you. He seemed to be immune against Loki's manipulations so I can't think of anything that could have caused him to be like that. Though whatever it is, he will not be very happy."

"I hope he does figure it out, because something tells me we are gonna need him to win this."

-ANLANLANLANL-

 _ **POTTER COVE**_

Nym deposited Harry in the muggle room and went to sit on her parch. Harry sank down on the couch like the life had been sucked out of him. He kept remembering how he had hit Natasha, the memory playing over and over in his mind. He felt disgusted with himself, like he was the vilest person in the world. He had let his emotions get the better of him again and he had ended up hitting the second most important person to him in this universe.

He had learned occulmency for this particular reason, despite his lack of aptitude for it. While he had been a natural at legilimency, occulmency had been a hassle to him and it took him twice as much time as any of the others to finally master it completely. During that time however, he had been a wreck. Teenage hormones along with his lack of control of his emotions had led to him making decisions and actions that usually resulted into death of those around him.

He thought he was above that now. That he was better than that. Apparently not.

He kept replaying the memory, every time with a more violent reaction towards Natasha. From her head exploding to being sliced in half. The images becoming more gruesome the more he thought about what could have happened. He kept getting more distraught with every thought, curling upon himself and sobbing in self-disgust. He stayed that way for the next thirty minutes re-imagining the memory with Natasha and Illyana being killed due to his lack of control until he was cuffed hard on the head.

He looked up to glare only to meet another glare twice as intense as his. Nym's electric-blue eyes were boring at his with sparks of lightning flashing over them every second. She grabbed onto his shoulder hard, her talons digging painfully into his skin and flashed outside dropping him on his ass. A bolt of lightning flashed from the sky and impacted where Harry had been mere seconds ago leaving miniature smoking crater.

"What…" Harry was forced to dodge again as another lightning bolt nearly fried him and then another. About two minutes later, Harry was sweating and panting heavily as he dodged one bolt after another. He cast a shield that was shattered by one bolt only to get another that had somehow been hidden by the first one. The grounds were soon littered with small craters and smoke.

"Alright enough… I get it alright." Harry shouted and got a small bolt to the arm from Nym for good measure. Nym had been sending him images at a fast rate while he tried to avoid being killed and he had translated them in his mind.

 _YOU STOP BEING A WIMP AND GET YOURSELF TOGETHER. YOU MESSED UP BIG TIME SO WHAT? ARE YOU GOING TO JUST SIT ON YOUR BUTT WHILE PEOPLE ARE BEING KILLED JUST BECAUSE OF ONE STUPID MISTAKE? IT IS NOT LIKE YOU ARE A STRANGER TO BEING STUPID, JUST TRY TO FIND OUT THE CAUSE OF THE STUPIDITY THIS TIME. I WILL NOT HAVE A WEAK LITTLE PUSSY IN MY HOUSE IF I CAN HELP IT._

For some reason even his mind translated the images in capital letters. He thought of telling her that it was actually his house but wisely kept his mouth shut. Nym then took him back to the living room and Harry sat back to think of why he had been acting that way. Now that he could think clearly, Harry saw that he could have ended the whole Loki business before it had even started. Seeing that he was familiar with the signature of the Stones, he could have just added them to his MTS and he would have easily found retrieved the cube and tesseract.

Even if that had not worked for whatever reason, he could have just grabbed Loki from that mountain, used legilimency on him or doused him with Veritaserum and put a stop to all this. His hesitation to act every time that he could have done something to stop Loki's plans that had been apparent to him also disturbed him. The fact that he had been amused when he could have put a stop to the argument before the attack as well as his fight with Banner without any regard for the safety of other people. And then his reaction towards Fury and then hitting Natasha.

Harry hated physically beating one person without a very serious reason almost as much as he hated mind control. Even then, he would rather have resorted to magic than beating up the person. It just reminded him so much about the Dursleys that he tended to avoid anything that could relate him to them. It was also this reason that he did not drink. However, the fact that he had physically assaulted Fury, and then back handed Natasha without a second thought was just so out of character for him.

It meant only one thing and yet he hadn't felt anything touching his mind. He once again dived into his mind and thoroughly gave it a look over but he couldn't find any trace of mind magic there. even if it had been expelled, he would have at least found the residue but there was absolutely nothing.

This worried him greatly, either Loki was just too good with his magic that even Harry an accomplished occlumens couldn't detect when being subjected to his spells. Or it was just Harry himself who had a problem. Both of these options were worrying to say the least. The first option meant that Loki will practically slaughter the others almost with no effort. He could have controlled Harry to do anything and he wouldn't have known. The second option was better left un-contemplated.

Harry shook his head and switched on the T.V. while it was loading, he sat back and concentrated on the tattoo of the Deathly Hollows and teleported to the plane he met with Luna.

"Hi Harry." Luna greeted happily. She was still as he had left her two days ago, still eating pudding. "Shouldn't you be helping the Avengers?"

"That is what they are calling themselves?" Harry wondered aloud.

"Apparently, though I have to admit it is catchy." Luna said. "So, I see you have come into contact with the mind stone and were very stupid about it."

"Yeah, Nym was quite clear on the stupid part."

"She is as wise as she is beautiful." Luna nodded to herself. "Anyway, I can see that you underestimated the power of an infinity stone as well as the god of mischief. You could have killed everyone on that ship you know."

"So he really used it on me?" Harry sighed in a mixture of relief and weariness. "But I checked myself and I couldn't find any traces of mind magic."

"Like I said, you underestimated the power of an Infinity Stone. The stone not only gives the welder a boost in their intelligence, it also gives them _absolute_ control over anything related to the mind. They could boost or take away another's intelligence for example and that combined with Loki's natural skill in manipulation was enough to play you like a string. He wasn't sure if you would be able to detect it so he was very subtle, which is why you couldn't find anything." Luna said all that without pausing for breath.

"And how much of its power has he been able to access?"

"No more than ten percent." Luna then smiled. "If it makes you feel better, he just prodded the emotions with in you, giving them a little boost making them override your occulmency. We both know you are capable of doing whatever happened by yourself but your mastery of occulmency and the amazing person that you are had been able to put a lid on such actions and emotions."

"So all Loki did was take away the lid." Harry finished and Luna nodded.

"Yes and he gave them a little boost. Which is a good thing as you need to get all of yourself under control." Luna said pinning him with a stare. "Hiding part of yourself away even if that part came from a psychopath living in your head is never a good thing and you know I speak from experience. Go beat up Loki, confront yourself and become whole. And after that, get Illyana to deal with Darkchylde before it is too late."

"How do I get myself out of Loki's manipulations?" Harry asked deciding not to comment on that knowing that she was telling the truth.

"You already did by coming here." Luna said and Harry raised an eyebrow. "This plane belongs to you, think of it as a room for the secretary. Your mastery of the Hallows allowed you a few privileges and this plane is one of them. Think of it like a home or a well of water where you can come and rest or take a dip and you will leave clean. Any malicious attacks placed on you crumble the moment you step into this realm and you go back refreshed in every way."

"Luna?"

"Yes Harry?"

"Why didn't you mention this before?"

"I didn't want." she answered with a smile. "By the way Harry, do you still have the Gaunt Family ring?"

"Yeah, why?"

"It is a pretty ring, and I don't think they still make those. I know that was the last one made by Death."

Harry looked at her innocent smile for a moment before he shook his head. Luna had been very helpful today, at least she gave him some direct answers and didn't speak in circles which he appreciated. He figured pressing the issue right now would just give him a headache. Concentrating on leaving, he found himself back at Potter Cove and looking at the wall clock above the T.V, he was not surprised to see that he was gone for barely a second. It seemed time decided on how to flow in his realm by itself.

The T.V came to life and saw the news showing New York, there was a large wormhole in the sky and hundreds of funny looking creatures were coming through what appeared to be flying chariots. Harry assumed these were the CHITAURI. The chitauri had what appeared to be riffles that shot out some kind of energy and they were shooting at people that running around like headless chickens. Iron Man was fighting but the other Avengers were nowhere to be seen. Harry called Natasha.

"Harry are you ok?" Natasha asked the moment she answered looking at him in concern.

"I am fine." Harry smiled at her. "I should be the one asking you that."

"You know I'm fine I have handled far worse." Natasha smiled. "So, are you up for a fight, we could use some help."

"Oh, I am most definitely coming." Harry answered as Nym landed on his shoulder. "I have a bone to pick with our wayward god of mischief."

Natasha nodded and hung up when the Quinjet shook. Harry then called Illyana but she wasn't answering. He sent her a patronus ordering her to get back to Potter Cove immediately. He of course layered a muggle repelling bubble around it. He hissed at his ring and three seconds later, the basilisk skin suit had covered him, his emerald cloak moving slightly at the edges in a non-existent breeze.

"Well my beautiful companion…" Harry started and Nym straightened herself. "…let us go and make a statement."

The two disappeared in a flash of lightning. At the helipad of Stark Tower, Loki shivered slightly.

-ANLANLANLANL-

 _ **NEW YORK CITY**_

The Avengers are standing in a semi-circle picking off Chitauri with their weapons when Iron Man flies towards them with a Chitauri Leviathan following behind him. For a very large thing, it moved at a very fast speed. Iron man landed next to the others who looked at the Hulk in their midst. Taking his cue, Hulk started stalking towards the approaching leviathan before he broke into a run. When they reached Hulk punched the leviathan's nose making it fly over him to head towards the assembled Avengers.

Iron Man knowing the thing could probably crush them, and seeing a soft spot, he aimed a rocket at said spot and fired. The leviathan exploded in a bloody mess and pieces flew everywhere. His bracers transformed into a shield over himself and Hawkeye while Cap pulled Black Widow under his. Thor swung his hammer over his head very fast that it created a shield of its own.

Only the burning pieces didn't fall. Just before the first pieces made contact with the shields, they froze midair before they started floating towards each other. All the pieces of the now dead leviathan collected to form one huge lump of meat which slowly started transforming into another creature which all the Avengers recognised. Said creature let out a loud screech before it barreled into the frozen Chitauri and setting them on fire before they reached the ground.

"Oh… my… God." Hawkeye couldn't help himself. "Is that a dragon?"

The dragon destroyed the surrounding chitauri before it let out a stream of fire which formed one word.

 _ **AVENGERS**_

From the top of Stark Tower, Loki watched motionless with a slight amount of trepidation while the Chitauri flew away from the Avengers to regroup. He sent the command to send the rest of the army.

"Now that, is what I call an entrance." Tony said as Harry floated towards the ground in front of them while the dragon hovered above them letting out the occasional screech.

"You like it?" Harry asked. "One of the lessons I learnt from my nemesis back home."

"Harry, you came." Natasha said giving him one of those rare smiles of hers that made Harry wand to do a lot of things to her.

"Always." Harry answered and could have sworn he saw her pale cheeks tinged with a dust of pink. "It is time we end this."

"Any ideas, I think our greatest priority right now is closing that Portal." Steve asked.

"I have put a containment ward around where the chitauri, so we shouldn't worry about them leaving the city." Harry started. "The ward also has a mild compulsion for those not involved in the fight to leave the area covered by the ward which should help reduce on the number of civilian casualties. The effect won't be instant but within ten minutes, there shouldn't be any civilians in the vicinity.

The others looked at him in surprise, except Natasha who was smiling at him.

"That is magic for you."

"That simplifies things a bit." Steve said. "Burton, Black Widow, Hulk and I will stay on the ground, while the tree of you stay in the air, in the mean time we try to find a way of closing the portal."

"I can break Selvig out of Loki's control and get him to close it but something tells me we shall need the scepter, which means I'm going to have to _convince_ Loki to allow us borrow it." Harry said seriously.

"Don't kill him, he is the one controlling these things and if he lost control, they could swarm everywhere."

"Oh don't worry, I have about a hundred ways to convince him." Harry grinned and even Steve found himself shuddering a little. "In the meantime Nat, how would you like to ride a dragon, you know as apology for hitting you?"

"Uhmm, I like the way you think."

Harry then traced a duplicating rune on Burton's arrow pouch so the resident hunter wouldn't run out of arrows. Then he turned to the approaching chitauri.

"All right people, the fate of the planet probably lies on our shoulders." Looks of determination appeared on all their faces, Hulk though had a scary smile of his own as the chitauri came nearer.

Harry slapped his palms together sending a wave of magic towards the approaching fleet of chariots and the magic shut down the systems. About thirty sank down to the ground only for spike to erupt from the earth and killed each one of them. That was the cue for the others and Thor pointed the enchanted hammer into the sky and slammed bolts of lightning o the next wave of Chitauri. Harry carried Natasha by her slim waist and placed her on the dragon transferring his control to her.

The dragon let out a ferocious screech and surged forward. Harry took to the air followed swiftly by Iron Man and then Thor who high jacked a chitauri chariot. The chitauri were still coming from the portal along with more leviathans but they were dying in hundreds. Natasha directed the dragon with the skill of one who has been flying dragons her whole life. She picked two energy riffles from the Chitauri and killed whatever managed to escape the wrath of the dragon.

On the ground, Hulk was smashing like never before, destroying about five chitauri at a time, next to him, Hawkeye was in his moment. Arrow after arrow was released finding their targets with precision. Any enemies that got too close and managed to pass the Hulk was swiftly dealt with by Captain America and within ten minutes the ground was littered with smoking bodies of the Chitauri was they dropped but more were still coming.

Harry spread his senses for Loki but the god of mischief could not be found anywhere near. It would seem that he had decided to leave his army deal with the Avengers. It wasn't working out so well. Bolts of lightning commanded by Nym who was stuck on his shoulder rained at the alien invaders as Harry sent blasting curses and many others spells. He also sent a wave of controlling magic towards the minds of about twenty chitauri soldiers in an imitation of the _Imperius_ and turned them against their own. He landed on one leviathan and let his magic override its instincts. He then directed it to fly back to the portal. He overloaded its body with magic and the moment it reached the portal, it exploded destroying the soldiers in it as well as two other leviathans that had just been getting through the portal.

Harry collected the pieces of the three leviathans into three balls of meat and transfigured those as well into dragons. This much transfiguration would have been very hard for an ordinary wizard, but Harry was no ordinary wizard. He was the master of the Hallows. The dragons screeched before they flew right into the portal. Burning Chitauri soldiers on the way until they entered the portal and started destroying.

There was a lull as the chitauri stopped coming through the portal as they directed their efforts in fighting the three majestic bests of fire. Harry flew down with Nym still parched on his shoulder. He waved his hand and transfigure dead bodies of chitauri soldiers and into giant wolves and sent them to help those fighting on the ground. Harry flew towards the top of Stark Tower where the setup of opening the portal was.

He grabbed the man's head with both hands and concentrated to purge any external influences from his mind. Thankfully, it seemed to work as Selvig blinked slightly before he looked at Harry and then looked at the fight going on before him.

"You better close that thing Doctor." Harry simply told him ignoring the man's confused look. He was about to speak more when he felt the presence of Loki.

Nym teleported him out of the way of the blast and they appeared right behind Loki. Before he could do anything, the god of mischief pointed the scepter at him and Harry slapped it away. It fell next to Selvig whose eyes lit up as he picked it up. Loki went to walk from him but Nym used her powers to teleport something even without contact and teleported the god of mischief to the Madison Square Garden and Harry followed half a second later leaving Nym to protect the Doctor as he worked.

Harry immediately summoned a containment crystal which he shattered on the ground and it formed a containment dome around the both of them. He knew the Avengers would handle themselves long enough for him to get the answers from Loki to close the portal, that is if they don't close it before their _conversation_ was finished. Loki tried to teleport away but nothing happened and he gave Harry an amused smile.

"What are you up to, little wizard..." Loki asked with a smirk. "You think your feeble efforts of keeping me here will stop the inevitable?"

"You made a very big mistake when you tampered with my mind Loki." Harry informed the Asgardian.

"I am a god; I make no mistakes." Loki said. "I am disappointed it took this long for you to break them."

"Well, you just did." Harry informed him with a smirk just a disillusioned stone golem barreled into Loki, only for the illusion to flicker out of existence. Harry turned with a blasting curse on his figure tips and blasted Loki right in the face. "And for the sake of this conversation, I can always tell where you are so your little illusions don't work on me."

Harry summoned the sword of Gryffindor and blocked the slash of a sword from Loki who was behind him. He then turned and slashed at the place only for the god of mischief to teleport away. Harry's figures twitched and Loki was summoned to him right into a magic enhanced fist in the face sending him fly across the arena. Loki stood up and dusted himself looking at Harry in amusement.

Loki conjured two swords in his hands and attacked Harry at a very high speed. Harry dodged and parried the swords for some time but it the enhanced god soon got an opening and slashed at Harry's suit then punched him in the chest. The slash had absolutely no effect on the basilisk hide while the powerful punch made him fly across the arena but Harry activated his flight enchantments and stopped his motion.

Harry allowed a small smile at the look of surprise at Loki's face before he charged at the god. Loki let beams of magical energy towards the approaching Harry but he cast a reflective shield that sent them right back along with a mixture of bone breakers and exploding curses. Loki was once again sent flying only this time Harry followed. The bone breakers had no effect on the magic resistant god except being very painful. The exploding curse though which hit his wrist shattered it completely.

Loki fell but he was not given time even as his wrist rapidly healed. Spikes erupted from the ground flew at him but he cast a force field and they shattered. Before he could express how angry he was, a flame whip burst from Harry's wand and wrapped around Loki's leg making him cry slightly from pain before he grabbed the whip and yanked at it. Harry surprised from the action had no time to react before he was right before who stabbed him in the shoulders, the blades somehow managing to penetrate the armor. He immediately flew away from the god of mischief and yanked the blades from both shoulders.

A blast of magic slammed into his face sending him across the arena floor even as he directed his own magic to heal the wounds on his shoulder. Rolling on the floor a few times, he got up to look at a Loki who was no longer amused. Harry got back to his feet, his wounds fully healed as well as the tears of his armor having repaired themselves. He watched Loki with narrowed eyes waiting for him to make a move while Loki did the same. He smiled slightly at the classic Mexican standoff they were imitating and twitched his fingers for good measure.

However, in this case, it wasn't in preparation draw his gun. He as discretely as possible animated Loki's cape, layering it with a couple of charms while at the same time the keeping Loki's attention at the stone golem from before that was no standing before him. Harry banished the golem at Loki who with some incantation transfigured the thing into a huge serpent that he sent flying back at Harry. Harry traced a locking rune in the air with his wand and it embedded itself on the serpent's skin.

~ _stop~_ Harry hissed at the serpent which froze. ~ _attack him~._

The serpent turned and slithered towards Loki who tried in vain to transfigure it again. It slammed into him, its huge jaws swallowing his hand. Loki sent a burst magic directly into its mouth and destroyed it. However, that had been a mere distraction. Harry had been drawing runes in the air as the god of mischief, similar to the ones he had used in his fight with Jean but with a few additions. When Loki destroyed the serpent, his cape wrapped around him and started dragging him towards Harrys little prison. The moment they reached, the runes lit up and disappeared into Loki's form. The charms Harry had placed on the cape were dropped.

Basically, the little prison Harry had been creating were supposed to make sure that all magical effects on Loki stopped working. His enhancement was rendered useless, his gold armor dematerialized he became just like an ordinary Asgardian without any magic. Then Harry delivered a beating to Loki with just his fists and legs. A beating that would have made Natasha proud. Numerous bones were broken, and when Harry was done, there was blood coming out of the god of mischief's mouth. Altogether, it will be sometime before he crossed the man known as Harry Potter again.

"This…this isn't you." Loki gasped as Harry set his battered form down.

"This is me, Loki." Harry answered grimy. "I have locked this away, ever since that soul shard was ripped from my head. But it left that part in me, I shut it away and whenever it would come out, it would consume me. But even under that influence, I never at any one point hurt anyone I cared about, until when I hit Natasha. It is time that I welcomed that part of me before it became its own consciousness and consumed me completely. So thanks anyway."

"All this was all for a _woman_?"

"Natasha isn't just a woman. And it is not just her." Harry answered drawing his wand again and Loki flinched slightly. "Anyone who hurts those I care about, even indirectly will always be introduced to my other side. Now, clear your mind. _Leglimens."_

-ANLANLANLANL-

When he was finished sifting through Loki's mind, Harry staggered a little at the amount of information he had ripped from Loki. He rubbed his temples to reduce on the headache so he would concentrate enough to let his magic deal with it. He looked at Loki who was holding his head in pain and was having blood coming out of his nose. Harry pulled a pain relieving potion from his pouch and forced the downed god to swallow.

The effect was instantaneous as the potion got rid of not only the headache but also the pain from the beating Harry had just given him. Loki stopped holding his head and stood up on shaky feet looking at Harry with a mixture of hatred, respect and gratefulness though he didn't thank him, his pride probably couldn't handle that much humiliation. Not after the beating he had just received.

"You know; you are supposed to be a master at the mind arts where I come from." Harry said looking at him. "The fact that you had no idea you weren't in full control of yourself is almost ironic given how you made me act."

"How did you get past my shields." Loki asked, his voice weak though it was recovering.

"I didn't just get a bit of Tom's personality from the soul that lived in my head." Harry explained. Now that he had seen the real cause of the attack, at least part of it, he didn't hate Loki that much. In fact, he had seen that they were quite similar in a couple of things.

That didn't mean that he had forgiven him for making him hit Natasha. Far from it.

"Now let us go and stop this madness." Harry said and grabbed him by the arm. He intentionally _apparated_ to the top of stark tower. Loki fell down as he was hit by the effects of side-along apparattion.

Harry left him and waked over to Natasha who was holding the scepter pointed at the force field around the cube. The fight was still going and the Avengers were still fighting as well. Hawkeye was now riding Natasha's dragon which was battered and having many wounds but it continued flying and fighting, completely ignoring the obvious pain. That is what it had been created to do after all. Nym was flying standing on Steve's shoulder slamming bolt after bolt of lightning to any who came near the man.

"Harry, where have you been?" Natasha asked drawing him from his observations.

"Been having a conversation with Loki." He indicated the direction of the man who was seated at the edge watching the destruction below with a blank face. Harry was glad that he had put the containment ward. Not only did it work as a nexus for the chitauri, so that the moment they left the portal, they would be compelled to come to that area and they would then be trapped under the wards. While it meant a lot of destruction happened with in the wards, the rest of the city was safe.

"Why aren't you closing the portal." Harry asked Natasha seeing that there were more chitauri coming out of it. He had also seen the way to close it in Loki's mind and what Natasha was doing was one way to do it.

"Apparently the council felt that it was okay to send a missile to deal with the mess." Natasha spat looking up as Stark came into view. "You should probably help him he plans to destroy the mother ship up there wherever they are coming from."

"On it. Keep an eye on the would be king." Harry said shooting a stunner at him and took to the air, a few seconds later he was flying alongside Iron Man. He put his hands just behind the man and pumped magic into the flying enchantments of his armor. The missile immediately pointed upwards and together, they directed it towards the portal and they went through.

Harry gaped alongside Tony as he saw what was beyond the portal. The place was filled with no less than a hundred ships in a vague cluster all filled with chitauri soldiers. Most of them were hang still in the air while some were moving swimmingly about. Letting go of the missile, it went straight to was evidently the mother ship and upon impact, there was an implosion of light causing a beautiful display of the light. Harry and Iron man were flung towards the Portal along. Harry activated his enchantments and flew towards the portal only to see Iron Man floating by. The arc reactor on his chest had shut down and wasn't lighting.

Down on earth, the still standing chitauri and the two leviathans keeled over and died and there was a shout of happiness. Natasha however was gripping the scepter tightly, her eyes trained at the Portal.

" _Agent Romanoff close the Portal."_ Fury's voice said in her comm.

"Harry and Iron Man..."

" _You close the Porta right now, that is an order."_

Natasha switched off the comm and just continued staring at the portal. About two seconds later, Nym disappeared from Steve's shoulder only to reappear with the two men on top of the tower and only then did Natasha close the portal. She immediately dropped the scepter and rushed to Harry who was breathing heavily.

"Harry, are you ok, what happened."

"My magic wasn't working and I couldn't teleport." Harry answered fussing over Tony. "I tried to fly but the portal was blocked and without magic I couldn't fight my way out."

"What is wrong with him?" Natasha asked kneeling next to Harry. Tony looked like he was having a seizure. "Oh my god what happened to the arc reactor, it is the only thing keeping him alive."

"I don't know, when the mothership exploded, my magic failed and the reactor shutdown."

"Can't you do something?"

Harry thought for a second and then slammed his right hand in Ton's chest right above his heart and expelled his astral form. Harry also ejected himself from his body and grabbed Tony who was floating around in confusion.

"Am I dead?"

"Not at the moment, no." Harry answered. "So, the arc reactor collapsed when the mothership exploded and you lost consciousness. I tried to teleport us out but my magic was not working for some reason though the enchantments on my armor were working and I couldn't fly out through the portal as it was blocked."

"Uhm, just to be clear, did you see what I saw back there?" Harry could see that even the man's astral form was shaken. "I could have sworn I saw about a hundred ships all manned with those creepy soldiers and they were _all_ waiting to come through that portal."

"Yes I did but now is not the time, you are dying over there." Harry pointed at Tony's pale body.

"And how is this even possible, and don't tell me it is magic because I will slap you." Then he paused. "I can slap you in this form right?"

"No, because I will kill you if you try." Harry answered. "Now about dying…"

"Yeah dying, right." Tony answered distractedly. "So, what's your plan, make me immortal or something?"

"Actually I was thinking of removing those little metal things creeping to your heart." Harry answered looking at the genius billionaire. The man had been very shaken by what he had the other side and quite frankly, Harry had seen worse.

"That is a good idea." Tony nodded emphatically. "You don't seem to be a very smart fellow though, are you sure you can do it… I am not sure I am ready to die when the word is faced with something like _that_."

"Yeah, I just need somewhere I will not be disturbed and I will be done I less than two hours hopefully."

"So, what is your price." Stark asked breathing heavily with his hands in the pockets.

"I am sure that we can come up with something when you are in perfect health." Harry answered. "Now, I can take you to my place or if you know somewhere we won't be disturbed then I can pluck the location out of your mind and we shall be on our way."

"There is a place, it is my father's old secret lab." Stark said thoughtfully. "I used to work my high school projects from there. it should be secret enough."

"Well then, let's get on with it." Harry tapped Tony's astral form and he was yanked back to his body and Harry willed himself back to his.

"Harry, what happened, you spaced out there for a second." Natasha asked.

"I was having a conversation with Stark here." Harry looked to see the rest of the Avengers flying towards them. "Secure the Loki, the scepter and the cube. I have to do something; I will see you in a few hours."

Natasha nodded figuring that he would tell her later and Harry placed his hand on Tony then relayed the location to Nym and they disappeared in a flash of lightning just as the others landed.

-ANLANLANLANL-

They arrived in what was clearly an old lab. The place was disorganized and full of junk which Harry moved to create enough space which he filled with a transfigured bed. He laid Tony's unconscious form on the bed, the Iron Man armor having retreated back to the bracelets. Harry removed the bracelets and all electronic devices that were on him placing them on a transfigured table. He summoned _the draught of the living dead_ from his mokeskin pouch and emptied the contents in Tony's mouth. He then put the body in magical stasis.

In this state, every system in Tony's body was shut down. No brain activity at all, his body wasn't working so the blood was frozen in place. By all intents, Tony Stark was dead, except in this case, the death could be reversed. Harry then placed a few wards around the area to ensure that absolutely nothing interrupted him once he began extracting the metal shards as it would be automatic death for Stark and this time permanently.

When he was finished, Harry removed the mini-arc reactor from the man's chest and placed it next to the other electronics. He cleared his mind of all conscious thought and then let his magic flow through his hands with a single thought of healing the gaping hole in Tony's chest. Slowly, flesh started gathering in the hole, from the top, skin started growing and coved the area entrance to the hole. Then flesh started growing under the skin until the hole was covered with flesh like it had never been therefore.

Harry panted slightly from the amount of concertation he had need as well as the magic used. Normally, it would have required a potion to have a similar effect though it wouldn't have had the same effects. The process had taken about thirty minutes and he wondered how long it would take to deal with the main issue. After resting for approximately five minutes, Harry centered himself and let his magic flow into Tony's body, this time to find anything that didn't belong.

And it did exactly that. _Anything_ that didn't belong to a normal human body was removed. Any dust in the lungs, small metal particles in the skin. His body was cleaned of all junk and when he woke up, he would probably be the healthiest human being on the planet. It took two hours and a few extra minutes until Harry's magic left Tony's body. Thankfully, the potion had been absorbed by the body or else it likely would have been expelled as well.

Harry sat down taking deep breaths to get his body back in its normal condition. His magical core was still fine though he had used about half of it throughout the crisis. Thinking of the last three days, Harry couldn't help but marvel at how much could happen in such a short time. His losing the Lucha Libre title seemed to be almost weeks ago.

He remembered Luna's advice about confronting oneself if he were to become whole. He thought of his apprentice and her dark half, Darkchylde, that is what Luna had called it. It would seem that it was time to talk to her about that and hopefully find a way to handle that issue before it led to disaster. He felt a bit ashamed that he had behaved a lot like Dumbledore and perhaps, it was time to remedy that. Thinking of Luna, his thoughts went to the Infinity Stones. Objects of such power that it made him look like a drop of water in the ocean. He was very sure that one couldn't just destroy one of them. It would probably take all six combined.

Stones which gave the wielder absolute control over their respective areas if only they were capable of tapping into their power. Harry's thought immediately screeched to a stop as he remembered something Luna had said.

He sprang from his seat and conjured a paper and pencil. He wrote a note explaining to Tony what had happened and dispelled the stasis charm. He then administered the counter to the _draught of living dead_. It would take about thirty minutes for the body to become fully functioning and another thirty minutes for the brain to get back to its normal rate and that is when Tony would wake up. Harry then told Nym to wait for Nym to wait and teleport him back to his home when he woke up than he teleported away, Luna's words still ringing in his head.

"… _Its power is near unlimited as it can take anyone to anywhere. It also gives the wielder unlimited control of space and they could do anything space related. There is only one Space stone in the whole multi-verse and it is one of the reasons why you were brought to this particular universe."_

-ANLANLANLANL-

AN: Alright people, that sums up the AVENGERS arc. Please tell me what you think, any improvements you wish that I make in the future are welcome.

I have to admit I wasn't satisfied with Loki's fight with Harry. it felt like something was missing though I couldn't put my finger on it. Anyway, I hope your enjoyed it. Next chapter, we head back to the magical world. Thanks for reading, till next time.


	16. Chapter 16

**A NEW LIFE**

 **Chapter 16**

 _Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners._

-ANLANLANLANL-

Two days later found Harry seated next to Natasha on the rooftop of the Stark penthouse at night watching the New York skyline. After Tony Stark had recovered from his magical operation and his health being checked over by numerous doctors, the billionaire had thrown a small party to celebrate the fact that he was the 'healthiest man on the planet'. Well that as well as the Avengers' victory but that was an afterthought. The Iron Man had insisted that all those who participated in defending the earth attend said party as well as a few close friends of his.

Therefore, Thor was delayed in taking back Loki to attend the party and Harry, despite his lack of interest had been dragged over by Natasha to attend as well. At this point, the most part of the party was done and the people were mingling about. Harry, not interested in drinking excused himself and went to the rooftop to watch the brightly lit skyline. The repair works were going on below but the area that got destroyed wasn't as big as it would likely have been if Harry hadn't set up the containment wards.

"I don't think things will be the same after what happened." Natasha said from where she was seated.

"They are never the same, one way or the other." Harry answered. "We just have to hope for the best."

"By the way, you never told me about what happened with you before the battle." Natasha suddenly asked. "It looked like you hadn't been affected at all by Loki but clearly that wasn't the case."

Harry nodded.

"Loki saw me in Clint's mind and he hadn't accounted for me when he was planning for his invasion." Harry explained. "I was an unknown and he wasn't about to risk my intervention which could upset his plans. So he tagged me with a mild compulsion of inaction. While doing that he unknowingly stirred a very dark part of myself and it came out to play."

"What do you mean, like a possession or something?"

"Not really." Harry shook his head. "When Voldemort tried to kill me and failed, his body was destroyed and a part of his soul was broken off. That part got itself lodged in my scar and I lived with it tapping on my mind and magic for seventeen years making itself adjust to my mindset and also making the part it was tapping into adopt some of its qualities. I got it removed but by that point a lot of its personalities had been copied to my mind."

Harry looked at Natasha to see her light green eyes pinned at him in attention.

"So I put more effort in mastering occulmency and locked that part of my mind. A few times it could break free and take over but I would always lock it away like it didn't belong." Harry then shrugged. "However, after Loki released it and then whatever happened then, I decided to confront that part of my mind and make sure I merge it with the rest of my mind. Now it is part of me, it can no longer control me, the emotions that it entails will always be part of me, I just have to find ways of keeping them under control and not be overwhelmed by it."

"Magic can be so cool sometimes that you almost forget there is a dark side of it." Natasha shook her head. "And speaking of magic, it has been quite some time since I last saw my favorite witch."

"Oh Illyana is quite alright." Harry chuckled. "Apparently she got herself a girlfriend."

"Really!"

"Yeah." Harry nodded with a smile. "She used to crush on her trainer back in Limbo only to find her younger version here. At the camp they had gone to, they were attacked and Illyana teleported both of them away only to end up in Limbo."

"Oh, you don't seem worried."

"Not really, it just proved a theory of mine." Harry answered. "Anyway, they were stuck for almost two three hours as for some reason she couldn't teleport them back until I sent Nym to look for them. For those three hours, they had been talking and somehow they ended up admitting things I'm not sure I want to contemplate."

Natasha laughed slightly.

"I guess I should be happy for her." Natasha said. "God knows she needs all the happiness she can get after what she has been through."

"Yeah that is all well and good but I have no idea where to start threatening a girl about their intentions towards one's daughter." Harry huffed and Natasha raised an eyebrow with an amusing smile.

" _Daughter_ , Harry?"

"Well, I have found myself thinking of her as one on a few occasions."

"You are what, _nine_ years older that her?"

"I will have you know that I was born in 1980 which makes me thirty-two." Harry said frowning at her. "And that means that I am eighteen years older than her. Or is that twenty-five, 'cause she is technically seven."

Natasha just shook her head in amusement.

"You guys have the weirdest family."

"And speaking of family." Harry suddenly said. "I think I have found a way of visiting mine."

"You mean in your home universe?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded. "I plan on_"

"STOP!" Natasha interrupted him and he looked at her in confusion. "I appreciate the trust you are showing me Harry but I would rather not know how you plan on doing it, especially if it is what I think you plan on doing."

"You are probably right." Harry answered and pulled her to his side seeing that she shivered slightly. Natasha didn't object, she just leaned into him savoring the warmth from his enchanted jacket.

The two fell into companionable silence, each caught with in their thoughts. Harry was thinking of Illyana and her little trip to Limbo. He had hoped that his theory was wrong though clearly Stephen already knew and that had been why he had sent his apprentice that particular book on Christmas. Harry was sure the girl had never bothered to read it. While Illyana was very inquisitive towards magic, and was a very fast learner, having covered material for two of Hogwarts years in four months of nonstop study, she wasn't exactly a theory person.

She had probably been interested in the book but when she found that there was no cool magic to learn from it, she had put it on the shelf in her bedroom. And if it wasn't for the house elves, it would be having dust by this point. However, his theories had been proven correct, which meant getting rid of Darkchylde will even be harder than he had anticipated. But nonetheless, he planned to have a very long conversation with her tomorrow. He wasn't looking forward to that conversation and he had absolutely no idea what he would say but that little bridge would be crossed when he found it.

At his side, Natasha was also deep in thought. She had grown fond of Harry for the past year and wasn't even sure how the thought of him reuniting with his family meant for her. She knew she was damaged, her mind never even at any one point allowed the thought of romance cross her mind. She wasn't love material, that was the end of it. And most of all not for Harry. For someone who had gone through so much, he needed someone who would help him forget his troubles, who would allow him to rest and not add their own demons to his.

She knew there was a woman he had left back home. Daphne Greengrass. The woman had been left pregnant with twins which means that Harry had a family of at least three people waiting for him back at his universe. Illyana was part of that family of course, but what about her… what would happen if Harry decided to bring his family to join him in this universe. Would he still want her around, would he insist that she became part of said family? Would Daphne even want another woman, no matter the fact that she had never even considered any romantic relationship with Harry to be near him?

Or hadn't she?

"Can I see her?" Natasha suddenly said.

"Who?"

"Your wife, Daphne."

"Well, she is not technically my wife." Harry said releasing the locked from his neck. "Though she had the ring of the Lady Potter with her."

Harry hissed at the locket to open, a small ball of blue light floating from his palm and Natasha looked at the picture of the woman in one side of the locket. Honey blonde hair falling in waves over her head past her shoulders, red full lips, beautiful aristocratic cheekbones and icy blue eyes that reflected no small amount of intelligent.

"She is… very beautiful" Natasha admitted with a small smile and Harry smiled back at her.

"One of the most beautiful women I have ever laid eyes upon and in more ways than one." Harry said looking intently at Natasha's light green eyes. "Right up there with the likes of you Natasha Romanoff."

Natasha found herself caught in his emerald eyes that were reflecting the blue light brilliantly. Her breathing relaxed and she felt at peace, like all her worries had been washed away and all that mattered in the world were those beautiful emerald orbs looking back at her own. Slowly, almost unconsciously, she found her eyes slowly closing up as Harry's eyes seemed to be coming nearer. She felt his breath on her lips as he came nearer, his lips just a breath away from her own.

"Oh, uhm…I am sorry I…" Banner's voice broke them out of their trance and she opened her eyes though she didn't jump away, neither did Harry. he just pressed his forehead on hers and inhaled deeply before he pulled back.

"Bruce." Harry said. "You must be the world's worst time keeper."

"Sorry, maybe I can come back later?" Banner blushed. "Though Agent Romanoff is needed by Fury inside."

"That is fine Dr. Banner." Natasha said standing up. "I'll see you around Harry."

"Of course." Harry answered as she walked away. "Now Bruce, care to tell me why you would do something as unforgivable as interrupting a man about to kiss?"

"Just wrong timing I assure you." Banner said as he sat down. "The Hulk seems to like you."

"You are the Hulk." Harry deadpanned.

"Not really." Banner shook his head. "The other guy is another person just living within my body."

Harry frowned at the man and concentrated on his ability to sense souls, apparently one of the boons of mastering the Deathly Hallows. However, he would feel only one soul with in the man.

"I can only feel one person inside you." Harry said and grinned as Banner raised an eyebrow at his wording but he continued. "Though, I can test something if you don't mind."

Banner looked at Harry suspiciously for a second before he nodded his consent. Harry concentrated and slapped his palm on Banner's chest expelling him from his body though not sending him straight to the astral plane. Banner would exist in the mortal plane but in his astral form, kind of like a ghost.

"What, did you do?" Banner asked in confusion looking at his translucent body.

"Just trying to see how many people living in there." Harry explained. "Which means that the Hulk and Bruce Banner are one and the same. Just two different mindsets and the other takes over after some kind of trigger, very similar to an animagus."

"And what is that?"

"An ability for a wizard to turn into an animal." Harry explained and Banner shook his head in exasperation. "Anyway, when the person transforms into their animagus form, they are still the same person only in a different form. However, if someone forces the initial transformation without confronting and getting in harmony with their inner animal, they would be taken over by the animal's mindset whenever they changed into their animagus form which can easily be triggered by a number of things. It would be like sitting in a car but when it is another person is driving."

"That is exactly what happens when I transform!" Banner explained grabbing Harry's arm with his astral hands only for them to pass through. Harry gave him an amused look and he was lucky that he didn't blush in their astral forms. "Look, all this time, no one has ever understood it like you just did, is there a magical way of fixing it?"

"I am afraid I can't of something over the top of my head." Harry shook his head. "I am sorry, though I can try to search in my library to see if I can find something."

"That is ok." Banner smiled at him. "I had almost given up on finding a solution. I am sure you will find something after all, there must have been a way to help those kinds of wizards."

"That is the spirit Doc." Harry cheered and tapped Banner's head and he was hooked back into his body.

"We should probably get back inside." Banner said standing up.

"Yeah, we can't have people think that I am kissing you from up here."

Harry roared with laughter at the face Banner made as they went back to join the others. He found the others were seated around a table as Thor and Steve had a drinking contest and Tony was cheering very loudly along with Rhodes. Natasha was nowhere to be found and he assumed she had been called to go for some mission or something. He moved to the bar and picked a bottle of soda and sat down watching the contest going on. Somebody sat next to him and he looked up to see Pepper Potts.

"Hey Ms. Potts."

"Please call Pepper, Mr. Potter." The redhead said with a smile and Harry gave her one of his own.

"Then I insist that one as beautiful as yourself call me Harry." Harry smiled charmingly and was rewarded by a slight dusting of her cheeks. "There are not so many like you to brighten this gloomy world of ours with their beauty, I'm privileged to make your acquaintance."

"I can't say I have met many charming gentlemen like you either." Pepper said batting her lashes at him exaggeratedly before they both laughed.

"Not much of a drinker?" Harry asked indicating her glass of water.

"Not today, Tony is drinking enough for both of us." She said glaring at said person though Harry could see the affection in her eyes. "It is like he took the declaration 'healthiest man alive' as a personal insult."

"Can't blame the man." Harry said smiling despite himself. He had been doing a lot of that today. "That was one hell of a burden he had been carrying."

"Not anymore." Pepper said looking at Harry. "All thanks to you, I have no idea how I can ever thank you, Harry."

"Only doing what is right." Harry shrugged. "My godfather always told me that to act or not to act is the question, and that the choice is always mine. I chose to act in this case."

"Sounds like he was a very smart fellow, your godfather." Pepper asked and Harry snorted.

"I think he would vehemently disagree with you on that."

The two watched as more empty bottles were dropped to the floor and Pepper sighed.

"This is going to be very hard work tomorrow."

"Oh cheer up, it could have been worse."

"Yeah." Pepper conceded. "If, it hadn't been for you the Avengers."

"I am not an Avenger." Harry said surprising her. "I have other responsibilities and I don't wish to be part of any superhero group. Though I will be coming in every now and then in case they run into something very powerful or out of this world."

"Which may not be as far away as you would like." Tony said sitting between them having left the others. "From what we saw back there, we need to prepare. I should probably have a few kids running around here before then. God knows the world needs a few more mini Tony Starks."

"We shall be ready when it comes." Harry said. "Personally I am not letting any harm come to those I care about."

-ANLANLANLANL-

The next day, Fury, Coulson, Maria Hill and Clint led Thor and his handcuffed brother to the helipad of the SHIELD headquarters in New York. Maria Hill was carrying the briefcase that held the Tesseract which the two gods were to use to go back to Asgard as well as keep the cube where it belonged in Odin's vault. Loki was looking around with a bored look while the others said their farewells.

"I am glad we had your help Thor." Fury said as he shook the tall man's hand. "I hope to be seeing you around."

"I will try to come back whenever I can." Thor answered. "Good thing you have 'Shadow' and the Avengers to keep things quiet for a while."

That is what the media had decided to call Harry. Apparently he was just that seeing that no one had been able to have any look at his face. Even the images in the cameras hadn't been clear around his face. Just like a shadow, they knew he was there as they could see him, and they knew he was humanoid but that was all they could comprehend, except his emerald cloak and peculiar suit of course.

"The Avengers have been disbanded for the moment." Fury gestured for Maria Hill who opened the briefcase facing Thor and Loki. Thor looked at the briefcase and then Fury with a raised eyebrow.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS, DIRECTOR?" Thor…thundered. "Where is the cube?"

"Inside there of course…" Fury trailed off as he looked at empty case. Empty except for a baseball ball sized blue crystal. "But, it was there all this time… PUT THE FACILITY ON LOCKDOWN, WE HAVE A BREACH. I REPEAT WE HAVE A SECURITY BREACH." Fury roared in his comm as he turned to walk back inside.

"I think we should see what the crystal is about first." Loki stopped him. "It seems to be magical and I imagine there is only one person who would have taken the cube."

Fury came back and regarded the crystal suspiciously, his gun in his hand.

"I think it needs a trigger or something." Loki explained. "From what I can feel, it contains some sort of massage."

"Potter." Fury said cautiously and moved back a bit as the crystal glowed brighter and a holographic image of Harry sitting in his study appeared above it.

"Hi guys." Potter said. "I apologize for taking the cube but I needed it for something very important. I could have asked for it from you guys but I am very sure you wouldn't have agreed to give it to me. I would have been forced to beat up all of you which would have destroyed the relationship we have created after the New York battle. I promise you however, that I will not be bringing an army or using the cube to take over the world. I swear on my life and magic that I will protect that stone with my very life. No one will be getting their hands on it so long as I am alive and I assure you I will not be dying anytime soon."

Harry paused and then continued.

"Now, at the end of this massage, the _Fidelius_ charm I have placed on the knowledge of its very existence will activate and therefore absolutely no one except those aware of the secret will be aware about its existence so long as they are on earth. To anyone it will be like the stone vanished out of existence, you will probably remember where it is when at Asgard but the moment you reach within earth's atmosphere, that knowledge will vanish.

"On another matter, Loki was being controlled. I figured you wouldn't believe him but I took a peek into his mind and broke the control he had with Thanos. That is the person behind all this, at least it is what Loki's subconscious believes though he hasn't acknowledged it consciously. Whoever, this Thanos fellow is, must be pretty powerful but that is not much of my business which will not be the case if he attacks earth again. So if you happen to run into him, tell him that I will hurt him a lot if he comes and puts this planet in any danger again."

"Anyway, from Loki's memories, I managed to create this crystal as a special two-way port key. It can take you to Asgard and back on earth so it should be sufficient to transport Thor and his brother back to Asgard as well as Thor when he wishes to see the beautiful Jane Foster. Till we meet again… ~ _mischief managed~_ "

With the last word spoken in perseltongue, which came out as a hiss to the rest except for Loki, the holographic image disappeared. At the same time, the magic of the Fidelius took effect and everyone on the planet aware of the existence of the cube blinked once and shrugged. It was a shame the cube disappeared like that, it had a great deal of uses. Back at the helipad, Thor said his farewell and he departed with Loki.

-ANLANLANLANL—

 **POTTER COVE**

Harry watched the cube that contained the space stone settled comfortably in a case identical to the one used by SHIELD to house it. He felt the secret of its existence settle in his very soul and smiled slightly to himself. He knew that the Fidelius wasn't as perfect as he would have liked but so long as the stone was on earth and Harry stayed alive, it would be completely safe. It was a good thing that he had studied the charm as extensively as he had.

At this point, he was capable of manipulating in any way he wanted, ways that couldn't even be imagined back at home. While he would have liked to put the stone itself under the Fidelius, but somehow the magic of the stone didn't seem to agree with that. However, that didn't matter much as sitting right before him was the means to visit Daphne and his family. The crisis after all ended up with something good. He was brought out of his musings when there was a knock on the door of his study.

"Why are you knocking Illyana?" Harry asked and the blushing girl entered. "It's not like you ever knocked before."

"Sorry." Illyana answered looking at her feet. "I… am I in trouble?"

"What, no. Why would you think that?"

"Well, with what happened yesterday and everything, I thought…" the fourteen-year old trailed off looking at Harry.

"Oh, don't worry about that, at least not yet." Harry assured her as he closed the briefcase and walked around the huge table. He beckoned her to the couch on the left side of the study opposite the book shelves. On the wall behind the couch was a big framed photo with Harry, Illyana and Rogue flying their snow dragons on Christmas. Harry managed to recreate it from the Pensieve.

Said Pensieve was on the table in front of the couch where Harry sat and Illyana followed.

"Look, you're not in trouble." Harry assured her. "I just want to talk to you about something very important that I should have talked about long ago."

Illyana nodded.

"But first, I want you to place the memory of the time you attacked your parents." Harry told her gently. "You know how to extract the memory, right?"

"Yeah, just a moment." Illyana flicked her wrist and her wand slid from the holster. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the memory Harry wanted with her wand on her temple then slowly pulled it off, the silvery string clinging to the wand tip. She placed the memory and Harry smiled at her.

"Thanks, I'll just have a look just to confirm something before we can talk." Harry stirred the memory and tapped a few runes on the side of the stone bowl then he placed a finger in the memory. His eyes glazed over as he sank into the memory for about ten seconds before they focused again.

"Uhm, is everything ok?" Illyana asked nervously when Harry came back with a resigned look.

"No Lya, I'm afraid not." Harry sighed. "Tell me something, during… the event, how exactly did you feel?"

"What do you mean?"

"The emotions I felt in the memory." Harry elaborated. "Did you feel them as if they were part of you or were they just there and you were feeling them like they were coming from somewhere else, like they should be part of you but instead they weren't?"

Illyana scrunched up her face in a cute frown as she tried to remember, her long nose rising slightly. Harry found himself smiling at the sight.

"I…am not sure." She finally answered. "I hadn't considered it before but now that you mention it, I think that is exactly what happened."

"What is…"

"I think it was like I wasn't in control, like someone else was controlling me though it still felt like it was me, if that even makes sense."

"Actually, it does." Harry said and the girl focused on him. "Well, Belasco kidnapped you for a reason. I don't know if you had reached that point in your _relationship_ yet but according to Luna, "Belasco had been seeking to bring forth a legion of very powerful entities known as the Elder Gods to rule earth with the help the Beatrix medallion. This medallion to work needs to have five bloodstones that were to be created by corrupting your soul with a new stone appearing as the corruption deepens."

Illyana gasped horrified and Harry pulled her into a hug.

"Don't worry, it will not be happening and had I known that, I would have killed him on the spot." Harry comforted her. When she relaxed enough, he continued. "Anyway, he created the master-apprentice bond and was feeding demon magic to your soul through that bond. However, in creating the bond, he unknowingly activated your magical core which started fighting against the foreign magic he was pumping into your body. Belasco realized this and decided to bound it but a little of it managed to seep through the bindings.

At this point the magic from your core wasn't strong enough to get rid of the foreign magic completely so it started absorbing it. It tried to change it but it still wasn't strong enough, therefore it decided to recycle the magic, it created a consciousness that was a mixture of Belasco's and your magic. It was part of you though just as a secondary consciousness, the real Illyana would be the primary consciousness with in the body but the other personality, the one corrupted by Belasco's magic would also exist alongside the main one but it was also very capable of taking over during the right circumstances.

"So… the _thing_ that attacked my parents was my other consciousness?" Illyana asked quietly as she looked at Harry who nodded. "But how come, it hasn't come again."

"You haven't been in that kind of situation since you came here." Harry said, glad that she wasn't freaking out. "Though I am guessing that your alter ego resurfaced when you were attacked."

"Yeah." Illyana answered quietly. "She is the one that had us trapped in Limbo, though when your patronus came, I managed to wrestle back control and got us out of there. I am sorry I didn't tell you earlier."

"It is fine; I know you were scared." Harry assured her. "I once had a soul of my parents' murderer stuck in this scar, the thing would try taking over my body whenever it had a chance. So trust me, I know exactly what you are going through."

"That is why you insisted on me learning occulmency even when I was immune to all forms of telepathy." Illyana said in realization. "You knew all along."

"I had my suspicions, and when I read Doctor Strange's book, I was very sure." Harry said and the girl blushed slightly at the reminder of the book. "I should have talked to you earlier but I guess I was afraid of your reaction and many other things."

"It is fine." Illyana said. "I am sure you would have told me if I had asked, and it is not like I have been completely honest with you. So… how do we get rid of it?"

"I am not completely certain but I don't think it would be wise." Illyana looked at him with raised eyebrows. "It is your connection with her that allows you use the teleportation discs; lets you use magic similar to Belasco that even I cannot replicate. It is also because of her that you are immune to all forms of telepathy, and I believe there is more to the fact that she immediately went to Limbo when she took over. She is no threat to you at the moment, so I suggest we wait and learn as much about her as possible before we can confront her."

"I trust you completely, Harry." Illyana said. "I guess I just have to concentrate on my occulmency now."

"Yeah, and make sure that you don't give her the chance to get out." Harry agreed. "Now, why don't you go and prepare, we should start on the Hogwarts third year syllabus today."

Illyana nodded enthusiastically and ran out of the study. Harry shook his head slightly and appreciated not for the first time how much he considered himself lucky to have known the girl. The trust and confidence she had in him was slightly overwhelming. He knew that it was her confidence in him and his abilities that she wasn't even scared or freaked out by what he had revealed to her. She _believed_ that so long as he was there, then there was nothing to be afraid of. While she was immune to legilimency, she had been unknowingly projecting these thoughts, almost shouting them that he couldn't help but pick them up.

He hoped he wasn't making a mistake.

-ANLANLANLANL-

"Today we start transfiguration from inanimate to animate." Harry lectured to Illyana in the training room which also worked as the class room for most of the subjects. "Like I have told you, transfiguration generally works on the person's level of imagination, concentration and to some extent power. However, one thing you should know is that using a lot of magic in a transfiguration does not necessarily mean that you will get the results you want."

Illyana blushed as she remembered the number of times she had done exactly that and ended up with what she was transfiguring blowing up in her face.

"You need to know what you want. How it looks like, the shape, the base instincts in case of an animal and most importantly the characteristics you want it to possess. It wouldn't be nice if you transfigured a lion only to be mauled by it the moment the action if finished." Harry said as he conjured a shapeless piece of wood while giving her time to write notes. "Now, another thing you need to consider when attempting a transfiguration is the size of what you have at hand and then what you plan to transfigure the thing into. Tell me, what animal is of a similar size to this piece wood."

"Pig? Sheep? Small goat? Dog? Wolf? Crocodile? Dragon?"

With every animal she said, the wood changed without any movement from Harry until she reached the part of crocodile and dragon making Harry give her one of those looks.

"What, I also want to see one." Illyana shrugged. "Everyone on the news is talking about how _The Shadow_ created dragons."

"You rode a dragon on Christmas last year."

"Yeah but that was just animated ice." Illyana exclaimed waving her hands around. "This is a real fire breathing dragon, and Nat was riding one."

Harry just shook his head with a smile.

"Can we concentrate here, please." Harry said and she pouted slightly though her attention was back to him. "Now you must understand that while it is not a must that you only transfigure something out of an object with a similar mass, it is easier this way and takes less effort."

He vanished the dog-sized wolf and conjured a smaller block of wood.

"Let us begin with a rat and go up from there shall we?"

With that, Harry started instructing her through the steps. It took a bit longer as she started from scratch but when she finally managed to transfigure the wood into a living rat that tried to bite her wand, things became easier as she had gotten the hand of it. They moved from small animals, going bigger until they came to a dog and Harry put an end to the lesson for the moment to go to lunch.

After lunch, they worked on potions while in the evening they worked on dueling. Harry had created a schedule where in the morning, they worked on subjects that needed one to actively use magic while in the afternoon they gave the magic time to recover through subjects like potions, Arithmacy and Runes. Herbology of course was handled very early in the morning just after the work out drills and then in the evening at around 7:00pm they sent at least one hour on dueling or non-magical sparring depending on the mood.

Harry wanted to cover a lot as much as possible. He had discussed with Illyana that at the end of summer next year, she would resume her mundane education as it was just as important as the magical education. Harry was hoping that by that point; they would have covered at least up to the end of sixth-year syllabus. He knew that he would probably get some new students this year so it would really be nice if there was someone else to help him teach whenever possible.

It was a good thing Illyana was a very bright girl. She had an aptitude for magic in almost all sections apart from Herbology and potions. The plants hated her for some reason and the most vicious ones usually tried to attack her whenever she was in the greenhouse by herself. So she avoided it like the plague and only went there for their lessons. Potions on the other hand just ended up blowing in her face whenever she tried brewing them. While she knew the theory behind most of the potions and the steps to brew them, she never got to brew even the most basic of potions without it blowing in her face.

Harry had yet to figure out what caused it. And she therefore kept away from any brewing cauldron as much as possible. However, the other forms of magic she was the little prodigy most especially with runes which pleased Harry so much. This is where she excelled the most, it was like runes came to her like a second language or something. Arithmancy also came natural to her though she hated the subject with a passion. When Belasco was teaching her dark magic _which had come as a pleasant surprise when they found that it didn't work here on earth_ the demon ruler had grilled her on algebra and how it applied to magic so it wasn't exactly a new field to her.

Care of Magical creatures was another subject they didn't cover much though. While they worked on theory, most magical creatures were hard to come across and Harry usually ended up transfiguring them up if they couldn't find the real creature in the Dark Forest. Which of course meant that she never got the real experience as no matter how skilled Harry was, he could never be able to transfigure a perfect copy of the real animals.

However, the two spent some times walking through the Forest and even crossing the safe wards that kept away the most vicious ones from Harry's home though they were still within the outer wards. If they came across one, Harry would capture it, and have an impromptu lesson there and then along with the practical part. After that, they would release it and continue onto the next one. The two enjoyed these hikes through the forest as they had as much fun as they learned, and the lessons were usually more bonding time which made them get even closer.

When he wasn't teaching or playing with Illyana, Harry spent all his free time trying to unravel the mystery of the Space stone. However, no matter how much he experimented and tried, he just couldn't get it to work. The cube around the stone seemed to not just protect the user, it limited the power one could draw from the stone. Harry had tried to teleport to any place with it and it had worked. He had experimented with it, visiting places he had seen in Loki's mind and getting the hell away from there as fast as possible but he couldn't tap into enough of its power to take him to another universe.

He knew that he needed to access the stone directly, but using the stone while holding it in his hand didn't seem like a very good idea. Which meant that he had to find a way of tapping into the stone's power directly without having any direct contact with it. He remembered Stephen's necklace and how the Sorcerer Supreme used the Time stone without having any contact with it. Though how much of its power he was using, Harry had no idea but he was very sure it wasn't its full power. The stone gave one absolute power over time, it was hard to even imagine what one could do with absolute power over time.

One month later and Harry was still nowhere near solving his little problem. He more than once considered telling the secret to Stephen but he decided against it every time. While he planned on bringing his ally in his confidence, he wanted to make sure he visited his family at least once before he could tell other people including Illyana and Natasha. Harry tried talking to Luna but the blonde could not be found. He even visited the _Soul Dimension_ as he had come to call the little place they always met but she wasn't there every time he arrived.

He however always found a half-eaten bowl of pudding and a beach chair.

-ANLANLANLANL-

The last weekend of May found Harry relaxing on top of a tree with in the darkest part of the Dark Forest. He was lying on a very big branch on the biggest and tallest tree in the forest, one he had gotten from Africa, in Uganda to be particular. The tree was magical, its sap acted as a healing paste that when rubbed over a burn or bruise would heal instantly. Even a wound would close very fast, almost as fast when one used a healing potion. However, if taken through the mouth, the sap acted as a poison and the person would die and turn into ash within a minute.

This particular part was the only one that the natives knew about and it was almost extinct in the country. The killing properties were always there but the healing properties of the sap only activated on the night of the full moon and unfortunately the natives had no idea about this. Harry had found the tree on his trip to Africa as he tried to look for any Vibranium after seeing Steve's shield. He had come across Uganda, one of the most beautiful countries on the continent which also happened to have two of the largest ley lines passing through it.

But that was not why he was here in the forest. Illyana had gone to visit her parents, or girlfriend, or both, Harry wasn't sure but he knew she could handle herself. Anyway, Harry assigned a disillusioned Nym to follow her around in case the attackers from before tried to attack her again, and it had been a very good decision as the moment the girl had left her parents' house she had been attacked. Nym flashed her away immediately and informed Harry.

When he got to the place, the would be killers had vanished and there was no trace of them. Harry had been frustrated and quite pissed off. He was surprised that they had not attacked the parents instead after Illyana had vanished which meant that their only target was Illyana. He had however talked to them and given them emergency port-keys in case they were attacked. He had also placed a ward around the house to alert him in case of any magical activity near the residence.

Leaving his apprentice at Xavier's mansion, Harry had come to the Forest to think about what or who would be attacking Illyana. They were clearly magical as they had used magic when attacking the girl but unfortunately, Illyana wasn't able to see any features that would give them an idea on where to start searching.

Taking in the cool breeze of the forest, Harry turned his thoughts back to the stone. He had been sure that Luna wanted him to have it after the hints on how the stone would take the user anywhere but her dodging him was getting frustration. He closed his eyes and went through their conversations since the crisis with Loki had started but he couldn't find any hints on how to access its power. He kept repeating the last conversation over and over as she told him of his underestimation until something peculiar stopped his thoughts with a screech.

There was a part where Luna had been for once more of her old self. Talking about something that was entirely unrelated to what was being discussed.

 _The Gaunt family ring._

" _It is a pretty ring, and I don't think they still make those. I know that was the last one of its kind made by Death."_

Harry summoned his Mokeskin pouch and retrieved the box holding the former Horcruxes, Hufflepuff's cup and the Gaunt family ring. The ring was bigger than normal, even slightly bigger than the one that contained his basilisk armor. He had no idea what metal was used to make it, and now that he knew that it had been made by death, specifically to be used as medium to access the resurrection stone, it was very possible that it was exactly what he wanted.

Harry slipped the ring on his finger next to the one holding his family ring and teleported right into his study. His heart pumping wildly in excitement, Harry opened the brief case containing the blue cube. He took a deep breath trying to relax his heart but it was no use so he encased his right hand with magic to form some sort of glove made of magic as he wasn't about to touch the stone with his bare hands. He lifted the cube and crushed it with his hand. He let the pieces of the broken cube slip through his fingers back into the case until he was holding the pulsing blue stone.

He could feel the power coming off from it which made him feel insignificant. For about two seconds, he thought of repairing the cube and putting it back but he squashed those feelings immediately. Taking a deep breath, he slowly closed his left fist putting the rings forward and he brought the stone towards them. As the stone came nearer to the ring, there was a small force, like the stone was anticipating to join the ring, like it was excited even. Harry watched in fascination as hole that used to contain the resurrection stone adjusted itself to fit the approaching stone without enlarging the ring.

Slowly, Harry brought the stone into about two inches with in the ring and the stone _jumped_ from his hand into the place on the ring. The moment it made contact, Harry felt the stone's power rush through his body. His body stiffened and his eyes glowed blue the same color as the stone. He could feel his body adjusting, phasing in and out of existence as the stone seemed to show him that it was in charge. Harry wouldn't have any of that, he let his magic loose against the power of the stone.

He pushed back, showing that he _was_ the one in charge. The stone pushed back, and so did he, the battled for a moment, the stone fighting with all its power but while it was powerful on its own, the stone's true potential could only be accessed by others, not by itself. And its consciousness soon realized that it was fighting a losing battle, and it also realized that this person was probably the right person capable of tapping its full potential.

Harry felt the stone stop fighting as it settled down. It recognized him as a partner. The glow reduced, his eyes went back to normal and he reigned in his magic taking in deep breaths. Looking at his left hand, he saw that his family ring had been absorbed by the Gaunt family ring, or was it the other way round, he couldn't tell as the ring on his finger now looked like an amalgamation of the two. The stone's glow had almost disappeared completely and unless one was particularly looking for it, they wouldn't notice it.

~ _suit up_ ~ He hissed at the new ring and his basilisk armor appeared instantly on his body. A feral grin appeared on his mouth, and he started chuckling slowly, his chuckle turning into laughter and a few seconds later, he was cackling like a mad man. That was until he heard a groan coming from the ceiling and turned to see Illyana half embedded in the ceiling.

-ANLANLANLANL-

AN: Well folks, I guess this is it, I am sure you all know where we are headed next chapter. Illyana's reaction or lack of towards Harry's revelations will be explained with time so you shouldn't flame me or call me whatever your imaginative minds ca come up with.

Anyway, I am undecided on what to do with Daphne and the twins. Should I bring them to this universe or not, should I bring all the three or just the twins, and if I bring Daphne, what happens to Natasha… your opinions will be most appreciated. Thanks for reading, see you next chapter.

.


	17. Chapter 17

**A NEW LIFE**

 **Chapter 17**

 _Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all recognizable characters belong to their respective owners._

AN: I have it on good authority that this chapter is likely to disappoint a number of you, hopefully whatever happens is as much fun as you would have wished it happened. For the record, this chapter fought me throughout. My usual method of typing as the story flowed by itself didn't work and whatever happens here was just forced so don't complain too much.

-ANLANLANLANL-

 _ **POTTER COVE, 14**_ _ **TH**_ _ **MAY 2012**_

Harry blinked at his apprentice who was _hanging out_ in the ceiling. He looked around the room and saw that a lot of things were destroyed, others were half embedded in the walls while others were simply nowhere to be seen. He waved his right hand and his magic guided everything back to where it had been before his little tug of war with the Stone's consciousness. Another groan brought his attention back to the nearly fifteen-year old, speaking of…

"Hey Lya, you never told me your birthday." Harry called to the girl whose unamused eyes bored into his."

"Could you just get me out of here…"

"Not before you tell me your birthday…"

"September 1st."

"Oh, great." Harry smiled before he stood directly under where she was hanging. "How did you even get there in the first place?"

"I have no idea, one moment I am about to knock on the door, the next I am being pulled into the room." Illyana huffed and Harry's lips twitched in amusement. "Then I was tossed around with almost everything in the room while you were there standing with this bluish light surrounding you. When the light disappeared, I found myself hanging out here."

"Uhm, that is interesting." Harry said contemplatively. "I believe it has something to do with my newly modified ring though I have no idea how to get you down."

His ring finger twitched as if in response and Illyana's body became incorporeal making her fall out of the ceiling with a squeak of surprise from the blonde right into the hands of a surprised Harry.

"Whoa, it can do that…" Harry marveled still carrying his young apprentice bridal style.

Thinking of trying it again, Harry willed himself to become incorporeal and sank into the floor dropping Illyana on her butt. He willed himself back to normal just as he passed Illyana's bedroom to the next floor. He started falling ridiculously fast only for his suit enchantments to activate themselves and save him from impacting on the stone floor. He blinked as he hadn't consciously activated them. His emerald cloak floated from his shoulders to get in front of him. It had some sort of blueish energy around it and looking at his suit, it also had the same bluish energy.

He was sure that it was a side effect of the Gaunt family ring merging with his own which had been containing the suit. Some of the Stone's power bled into the suit upgrading it slightly and giving both the suit and the cloak that accompanied it a bit of sentience, just like Stephen's cloak though he was sure that his was way much better than the red cloak of the Sorcerer Supreme. Landing on the floor of the unoccupied bedroom, Harry sent a mental command to the suit and grinned when they disappeared in a small flash of blue light. Apparently they didn't need a perseltongue phrase to activate.

He teleported back to his study to find a grumpy Illyana sitting on the couch.

"Hey, sorry I forgot to take you with me."

"Yeah whatever." Illyana huffed. Harry thought it was adorable but he wisely kept his thoughts to himself. "What was that anyway."

"I happened to… borrow a certain artifact I was hoping to help me with something." Harry said sitting down. "You know how much I have been trying to find a way back to my universe right?"

Illyana nodded, her eyes widening.

"Yeah, after the battle of New York, I borrowed it and I have been trying to find a way of using it for the last months and I finally managed to tap into its powers."

"That explains the grumpy look you have been spotting when you are not trying to kill me." Illyana grumbled and Harry adopted a stern look.

"Watch it there, young lady," Harry admonished. "I don't do grumpy, and every beating I gave you was out of the goodness of my heart. You should be over there entertaining me with an appreciation dance."

Illyana rolled her eyes.

"What does it do exactly and just how powerful is… this artifact?"

"It has a number of uses some I haven't even discovered but I has a bit of consciousness which will probably guide me on how to use it." Harry answered as he eyed the transformed ring. "With this, I can teleport _anywhere_. Even to places I have never been to and it is so powerful that it could wipe out the entire planet."

Illyana stepped away from Harry.

"Oh, well I suggest that you keep it nowhere near me." She said, looking at the ring with wide eyes. "Who would even make such a thing, what if it fell in the wrong hands?"

"Oh don't worry, that will not be happing any time soon." Harry assured the girl. "Anyway, with this little thing, I should be able to see Daphne and the twins again."

Illyana's face fell.

"Oh… uhm good luck I guess." She stammered out. "Will they be coming here?"

"I am not sure; I guess it will depend on what I find the other side." Harry shrugged before he walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. "And you don't have to worry about replacing you, you are as much family as they are."

"You consider me family?"

"Of course." Harry said running his hand through her hair. "I have grown quite fond of you Illyana and that will not be changing anytime soon you hear me?"

The girl nodded from his chest and Harry smiled at her.

"Good, now aren't you supposed to be with that amazing girlfriend of yours?"

The blushing girl explained how Kitty had been picked by her parents and with Jean, her brother and Rogue having gone with Xavier to pick some new mutants, she had decided to just come back here and do some training only to end up half embedded into a wall. Harry gave her a few demonstrations on the few capabilities of his new _artifact_ before he told her to prepare for a possible meeting with his family.

Harry called Natasha to tell her of the new developments. When she received, she was in the middle of a fight and nearly got shot if it wasn't for his shield bracelet. He simply told her to check in at Potter Cove at her earliest convenience before he teleported to the Sanctum in New York, right through the wards directly in front of Wong who had just taken a gulp from a glass of juice. Harry had just enough time to become incorporeal before Wong spat his juice directly into Stephen's face whose hands were glowing with mystic energy.

"Hello Stephen, Wong." Harry greeted as he conjured for himself a seat.

The two residents of the Sanctum looked at him for a moment before Stephen waved a hand over his face wiping away the juice.

"What are you doing here Harry?"

"Really, I haven't seen you in Luna knows how long and that is how you greet me?" Harry frowned at the man.

"I have to say I have enjoyed the peace here without your presence." Stephen answered as he stood up. "I saw your performance in Manhattan."

"Oh just doing my job." Harry said. "Anyway, I didn't come here to chat as I can see you are preparing to go somewhere. I just wanted to tell you that I have found a way to travel to my universe."

Stephen raised an eyebrow. "And how do you plan to do that?"

Harry just smiled and showed him the ring. He knew that even if even if the man saw the Stone he wouldn't recognize it for what it was. The magic of the Fidelius stopped the mind from ever considering its existence, therefore no matter how similar it may look to the real stone, the mind just won't acknowledge what is right before it.

"This little gem inside the ring here can take me anywhere I want." Harry said casting a small containment shield around the ring when he saw Stephen's Time stone glowing as he came nearer. "Nothing can stop it, even anti teleporting wards, except if they have been created specifically to work against it."

"And where exactly did you get something like this?"

"Oh nothing to concern yourself about, I'll probably tell you in time."

"So why are you here, telling me this?" Stephen asked and Harry shrugged.

"Well, I figured that since you re my friend… wait we are friends right?"

"I guess you could say that."

"Oh great, so as a friend I figured I could at least tell you." Harry continued. "And as Sorcerer supreme, I imagine you would be interested to know when other people capable of doing magic check in."

"You plan to bring them here?"

"I am not sure." Harry answered. "It will depend on what I find the other side and what they want, so I will be seeing you later then."

And with that, Harry teleported back to Potter Cove in the living room.

"I have always wanted to do that." Harry told Illyana as he appeared. "I can finally teleport here and that will put a stop at Nym's gloating."

The phoenix in question harrumphed her feathers before it flew and landed on Harry's shoulders. Harry sent a mental command to his suit and it appeared on his body instantly.

"Can I go with you?" Illyana asked looking at him pleadingly. "I would really like to see the world you came from."

"Not this time though." Harry answered cupping her cheeks. "I have no idea what I will be walking into and I would rather see if the coast is clear first before I can take you."

"But I can defend myself."

"I don't doubt your capabilities Lya. But I would rather you're not forced to put them to use anytime soon." Harry told her. "I promise you that I will take you there in time, right now I just want you to prepare for a possible increase in the number of residents here."

"You will bring them?

"Like I said earlier, I don't know but better be prepared, can you do that for me." Harry asked and the girl nodded. "Good, now here goes nothing."

Stepping away from her and with Nym still on his shoulders, Harry took a deep breath and connected with the ring's sentience. Letting his magical core lose, he felt it temporarily merge with the ring's power and sparing a glance at Illyana for one more time, he sent the command and disappeared in a flash of blue light.

-ANLANLANLANL—

 _ **PEVERELL MANOR**_

 _ **OCTOBER 31**_ _ **ST**_ _ **2014**_

Harry appeared in his study, his chosen destination and immediately released a sigh of relief. He resisted the urge to whoop in victory as he decided to wait until he met his family so they would whoop together though the feeling of accomplishment made his lips to stretch into a very wide smile. A smile which froze when he turned only to come face to tip with two wands each glowing on the top. He peered past the two wands and his eyes met two pairs of furious emerald eyes identical to his own.

"Who the fuck are you and what in Luna's name are doing here?" Hadrian growled and his sister frowned at him.

"Language…"

"Shut up, I don't think this is the time to speak about my language." Hadrian snapped while his wand tip glowed even brighter.

"You two have grown taller." Harry observed idly and snatched Hadrian's wand just as he made to cast a spell. He leaned his head away from Mia's spell and snatched that one as well. "And apparently more stupid since we last talked."

The two backed off though they were still standing in a fighting stance.

"Who are you and why can't we concentrate on your face?" Mia asked and Harry blinked.

"Oh, sorry kids I forgot." He sent a command and the suit disappeared. "Hey there little ones, it has been quite a while I imagine."

"Dad?" Hadrian asked as he exchanged a glance with his sister. "But, how are you here?"

"And how do we know you are not some imposter?"

"Daphne's _animagus_ form if it can even be called that is a ghost." Harry told them and they relaxed slightly.

"But… but how?"

"Long story which I will be sharing with you soon, why don't you come and give your dad a hug." Harry smiled at them and they practically flew into his arms.

"Oh dad, thank Luna you are here." Hadrian sobbed.

"Hey, it's fine I am here now." Harry answered. "Everything will be ok."

"You have to help them Dad." Mia said pulling back.

"Help who?"

"Mum and the others, you have to go now."

"What_" Harry was interrupted by a roar coming from outside that made even the house shake. He rushed towards the window thinking that a giant had attacked but his jaw nearly fell to the floor."

" _Luna's tit_ , what the heck is that?"

The thing standing on the manor grounds was like something straight out of a nightmare. The thing was about ten feet tall, humanoid with four arms, its body seemed to be made of a mixture of flesh and brimstone, a long spiked tail, a head of a wolf with horns and large bat-like wings. There were six people fighting the thing if it could be called that. Flinging spells that seemed to fuzz out the moment they came near the thing. Others were banishing solid objects but they were doing nothing.

A Daemon.

That is what it was. They were like the gods of demons and not even Tom Riddle would have dared to summon such things. They were more vicious and dangerous than even the ones Grindewald had summoned. They produced a nullifying field around them that negates any magic near them and they were impossible to kill by wizard standards, they were ridiculously fast given their speed and whoever had summoned the thing was clearly with the intention of destroying Harry's family.

The six individuals fighting down there were trying to keep away from the thing, apparating very often whenever it came near them but they would soon be getting tired. In the evening light, Harry saw about a dozen figures in dark robes just at the edge of the wards.

Unspeakables.

They had probably failed to breach the wards and had summoned the Daemon to fight for them since there were no wards that could stop something like that thanks to its nullifying powers. He could see numerous patronuses flying around the grounds to reduce on the dementor effect the Daemon had and he clearly recognized his animagus form among them as well as Hermione's otter though the other four were not familiar. He knew it was Daphne, the mistress of transfiguration who was conjuring whatever was being banished towards the giant nightmare.

His observation took about six seconds and were abruptly cut off when the patronus in the shape of his animagus form disappeared. He looked at the demon to see it holding Daphne with its claws digging into her. Harry saw blue. His eyes turning into blue orbs as his vision got a blue ting to them. His suit appeared on his body without even a conscious thought as he turned to the twins.

 _Do not move._

He wasn't aware he had just projected the words direct into their minds as he ordered Nym to get Daphne out of there and keep her alive as long as possible. Lightning flashed across the sky numerous times and the house was almost shaking from Harry's rage. He disappeared and appeared direct behind the Unspeakables. He closed his fist and compacted the area around all fifteen of them to make sure that they did not escape. It was a body bind but it was more like a human shaped cell of compacted air around them thanks to the Space Stone.

The daemon as if feeling his arrival abruptly stopped trying to attack the remaining three defenders and turned towards Harry only to run into a giant bolt of lightning. Lightning while created by magic was not actually magic so the nullifying powers were useless. The daemon was flung across the grounds but it immediately got back to its feet and shot after Harry.

Harry also just flew towards it, the stone on his ring glowing brighter as he focused on its power. Before they could impact a beam of blue energy came from the ring and headed direct at the daemon's head. It came about three times the speed of a spell and the Daemon swerved to the side to avoid it but it wasn't fast enough. The beam of energy caught one of its huge wings and completely vaporized it and it roared in pain as it lost balance. Harry didn't stop to watch though and telekinetically caught it in midair with the power of the Stone and flung it upwards in the path of a huge lightning bolt coming from the sky.

His right hand conjured steel spikes on the ground and he flung the burning daemon to the ground right at them. Another giant bolt fell from the sky and struck the daemon that had freed itself making it cry out in pain. Another bolt fell but the daemon managed to jump out of its way, direct into another beam from the stone that impacted and vaporized one of its legs. Harry flew nearer and kept shooting beam after beam from the Stone until all that remained of the Daemon were its horns.

He then teleported back to his study completely ignoring his shocked audience and reappeared next to a dying Daphne Greengrass. Her torso was torn open and the twins were crying while holding her hands. They immediately turned to him when he appeared.

"Dad please do something…" Mia cried as Harry ran to the downed Daphne.

"Hey, Daph. It's me Harry, everything is going to be fine just hold on." Harry said as he tried to heal the wounds but nothing was working.

"Y… you ca_ came, Harry." Daphne whispered in a weak voice.

"Of course I did." Harry answered absently as he thought of what to do to save her and then his eyes lit up. He slammed his palm on Daphne's chest and ejected her out her body. The twins felt her grip on their hands loosen and they looked at him with dread.

"Its fine, she is still alive and she will not be dying today of I have anything to say about it." Harry assured them before he put the body under stasis. Hopefully, it would prevent it from shutting down for five minutes long enough to do whatever he needed to save the mother of his children. "Keep guard over our bodies and don't let _anyone_ through that door, you hear me?"

Harry fixed the two with his gaze and they nodded though it was clear they wanted to ask questions. He then ejected himself from his body as well and was flung to the astral realm. He found Daphne's soul floating around in confusion and grabbed her hand. He willed the both of them to his Soul dimension. Luna had been kind enough to inform him that the dimension was out of the flow of time and it was up to him to decide the amount of time that passes outside of the Soul dimension.

"Harry, what is going on?" Daphne asked looking around the summer landscape. "I thought I was dead, are dead too?"

Harry didn't answer, he just grabbed her into a very tight hug. He would have kissed the living daylights out of her but he wasn't sure where they stood so he decided to go for something that could easily be forgiven.

"I missed Daphne Greengrass." Harry whispered after a very long moment.

"I have missed you too Harry, but could you explain to me what is going on here, and most importantly where is here?"

Harry smiled slightly at that. The Daphne he remembered hated no knowing. Knowledge to her was control and she always found a way of being more informed than anyone around her. It gave her control of whatever situation she was in and Harry had a very god idea how ticked off she was right now given her lack of knowledge about absolutely everything.

"I haven't seen you in ten years Daphne." Harry adopted a hurt expression.

"Harry James…" Daphne said warningly and Harry just shook his head. Trust Daphne to threaten someone in his own little world.

"You are dying back on earth_"

"And where are we?" She interrupted.

"I call it the Soul Dimension." Harry answered. "It is a little dimension I own."

"How do you own a dimension, Potter?"

"Quite an interesting story that I will be sharing with you later but we need to get back soon, I don't know how long I can pause time from here."

"You can do that?"

"Yes and a lot of other things, but you are dying out there."

Daphne took a deep breath.

"I know." She answered. "My body has been filled with its venom and blood, there is nothing that can be done."

"Actually, I think I know of a way that could heal you."

Daphne looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You haven't become a healer the last twelve years, have you?"

"What, no that's boring." Harry made a face. "There is a concoction I have been experimenting with and I am very sure it could heal you."

"Experimenting you say?"

"Yeah, well all discoveries have to be tested…" Harry answered sheepishly and Daphne laughed. He laughter ringing in his ears making him feel like a man taking water after a trek through the Sahara.

"I never really trusted you and your godfather with your experiments." She told him with a bright smile, one she used to reserve for only him. "Though the concoction as you aptly called it will not be necessary."

"What do you mean, it is probably the only thing that would ensure that you survive."

"I know, and I don't doubt you at all." Daphne said taking his face in her soft hands. "But it is my time to go on."

"Absolutely not." Harry snarled. "We are going back there and I am going to heal you then we shall raise our kids and many others to come."

"I wish it were that easy Harry." Luna's serene voice said from behind him. "Death_"

"Fuck Death or whoever the fuck you serve." Harry rounded on her. "I lost her before and I am fucking not losing her again you hear me. Not if I have anything to say about it."

"There is nothing_"

"The fuck there is." Harry thundered back. "You and your fucking master or whatever relationship you have reaped me away from my family just when I thought it was time to finally live my dream. You dumped me in that stupid universe and now I have reunited with them you are telling me am going to lose her again. What the bloody fuck do you take me for Luna?"

"Listen to me Harry." Luna said calmly looking at his furious eyes. "I know exactly how you feel and really wish there was something I could do to help but it is done already, her thread has been cut and unlike you who mastered the Hallows, she has to move on."

"She can't." Harry told her even though he knew the truth, he could feel it. "They need you Daph, the twins need their mother."

"They have you now." Daphne hugged him. "They have their father, the greatest father that any child could ever have."

"They need their mother; every child needs their mother." Harry sobbed. "I need you Daph, I can't lose you again, not after I just got you back."

"I have done my part for them, now it is your turn."

"I should have come earlier."

"It wouldn't have mattered, all that matters is that you came and you are here." Daphne told him. "You the most powerful wizard I know but somethings are just out of our control."

"I wasn't powerful enough to save you." Harry answered, wiping away the tears. "I will not be losing anyone else. I will become a god if that is what it takes but I will not be juggled around like a tennis ball, and if those fuckers touch any of my kids, I will destroy this fucking universe and whatever fuckers think that they control me."

Daphne kissed him deeply.

"Look after our children, Harry. I don't care if you become a god or deity but just look after them, let them grow up into people we would both be proud of, can you promise me that?"

"I promise."

"Thank you Harry, for rescuing me, showing me the way and making me into the person I am." She kissed him again as her body started fading. "Thank you for giving me the twins and tell them I love them very much and will always be proud of them no matter what happens. I will always love you."

Harry sank onto the ground and sobbed as she faded from his arms. he let all his pain and anger flow through the tears. Memories he shared with her flashing across his eyes, dreams and expectations about the both of them. He mourned for the girl he loved, the first person to ever really cared about. The person that had saved him from himself on more than one occasion. The person who kept him sane even as a dark Lord's soul was trying to take over his body. He felt Luna sink next to him and pulled him into a hug.

"I should never have left." He sobbed holding her lithe frame with all his might. "All of this would never have happened if I hadn't left."

"You would have lost the twins." Luna answered rubbing his back. "They are still alive and they will need you. You go and get rid of the body, you never know what that much daemon blood and venom would do to a body having magic."

Harry continued crying for what felt like eternity before he calmed down and pulled out of Luna's hug. He looked around his little dimension seeing that the summer environment he was used to had disappeared. Now everything was dull, trees were dead, there were no birds and the whole place seemed to stink of death. He closed his eyes and concentrated for a few moments and when he opened them, the dimension had transformed back to the usual summer environment only this time they were seated in the flower gardens of Greengrass Manor.

"I hope you don't plan to tell me I can't go with my kids back." He asked Luna who had been silently crying.

"I would be very stupid. And I am sure I haven't reached that level yet."

"Good, now excuse me as I go tell my kids that they got their father only to lose their mother." With that Harry disappeared and went back to the astral plane leaving Luna alone in the flower gardens. Her eyes got a faraway look as they watched any possible futures regarding Harry before she got a sad smile.

"Yes, it would be very stupid of me or any one for that matter."

-ANLANLANLANL-

Harry appeared in the astral plane and looked at his kids as they held their mother's hands while looking at his that had just reached the ground. He took a deep breath and willed himself back to his body. This wasn't the time to mourn, he needed to be strong for the sake of his children. Blinking, he stood up drawing their attention.

"Dad…"

"Please do something." Mia said tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I am sorry." Harry said quietly pulling them into a hug.

"You have to do something." Hadrian cried. "You are the greatest wizard ever, please bring her back, we can't lose her."

"I wish it were that easy son." Harry answered. "There certain things that are out of our control no matter how powerful we are; things we just have to accept no matter how much we don't agree."

The twins cried in his chest and Harry held them tighter.

"I am sorry I couldn't save your mother." Harry whispered to them. "But remember who she was, cherish and honor her memory by being the best people she would have wanted you to be. Now we need to go, I am not sure how long I have in this universe."

"You have to go with us dad." Mia stated and Harry nodded.

"Of course sweetheart." He pushed them out of the way. "I have to get rid of the body, the Daemon venom and blood will transform it."

The twins nodded and taking another deep breath, he concentrated on the ring and a beam of blue light hit the body and vaporized it. He pulled them together and walked towards the window overlooking the grounds where the fight had taken place. He saw the still frozen Unspeakables and his eyes glowed in anger. A twitch from his ring made them incorporeal and they sank into the ground about ten feet. Another twitch and they became corporeal again. With a sigh of satisfaction, Harry concentrated on his connection with the stone and the three disappeared in a flash of blue light.

-ANLANLANLANL-

 _ **14**_ _ **TH**_ _ **MAY 2012**_

 _ **POTTER COVE**_

The trio of Potters appeared in the living room startling Illyana who had pacing around the room. She paused and looked the three Potters. She looked at the twins who were staring at her curiously with their emerald green eyes identical to Harry's. though, unlike Harry, theirs were red from crying. Harry for his part had an expressionless look on his face, his bright emeralds that she had gotten used to were now a dull green.

"Guys, this is my apprentice Illyana that I always tell you about." Harry introduced her quietly. "And Illyana, these are Hadrian and Euphemia Potter, my children."

"Hi." Illyana waved awkwardly and got two nods in answer.

"Triki!" Harry called and the house-elf appeared. "Get one of your friends and get these two settled into the rooms of their choice and if any of them needs me, you can bring them to my study."

The elf squeaked affirmative and led the two out of the room. Harry turned to Illyana.

"How long have I been gone?"

"A minute I think." She answered and then looked at him in concern. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah." He answered. "I don't know about the twins though."

"What happened… I mean if you don't mind me answering…I am sorry I probably_"

"It's fine." Harry chuckled. "I was late, when I reached they were fighting something way out of their league and Daphne didn't survive."

Illyana gasped.

"I…I am so sorry Harry."

"Like I said, it is fine." Harry answered. "I even never got the chance to give her a proper burial, I can only imagine what the twins are going through."

"If they are anything like you then am sure they will be fine."

"Thanks I guess." Harry said standing up. "I should give them sometime before I try talking to them, if you need me, I will be in my study."

Harry teleported to his study. He sat down with a weary sigh and let the grief he had been suppressing free. Surprisingly, he didn't feel any urge to cry. Perhaps it was the knowledge that Daphne was happy whenever she was or the fact that he had already offloaded back in the soul dimension. Either way, it didn't matter right now. Daphne was gone but the twins were here, he was going to be there for them. He was going to make sure that they became something she would be proud of and that absolutely no harm ever came to them.

-ANLANLANLANL-

AN: Very short chapter but I just wanted to get everything out of the way. Sorry for the disappointment given that the majority of the reviews wanted Daphne to come with Harry but I am afraid I will not be explaining myself. Hopefully, you don't abandon the story as I like to do if whatever story I'm reading deviates from what I wanted.

For all its worth, I felt I should mention that I'm am a Harry/Daphne fanatic in the Potterverse and Harry/Natasha in the Marvelverse. Things will get interesting next chapter as we see more of Dr. Strange and introduce a few new characters, till next time.


	18. Chapter 18

**A NEW LIFE**

 **Chapter 18**

 _Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners._

AN: I read through the last chapter and I have to say I was very disappointed with myself. I have to agree with the most of you that it was poorly written. I could tell you why but something tells me you don't care so I just hope that those who didn't abandon ship enjoy this one as I try to explain exactly what and why everything happened in chapter 17.

-ANLANLANLANL-

 _ **POTTER COVE**_

 _ **21**_ _ **st**_ _ **MAY 2012**_

Harry sat behind his desk in his study with a weary sigh. He leaned back and thought about what had just happened starting from his bonding with the Space stone, his meeting with the twins, watching Daphne almost being mauled, the conversation in the Soul dimension, her death and his subsequent return to this dimension along with the twins. Looking back at the situation, it was now just clear how much he had been out of control of everything that happened and if there was something Harry hated with all his being, it was being manipulated.

Almost everything that had happened since he was brought here seemed to have been orchestrated by someone. There were certain individuals pulling his strings and he wasn't about to let that continue, not after he fought all his life to become powerful enough to cut the ones tied to him by a certain old man. It was no use hating Luna as he knew she had as many if not more strings attached to her. However, if the Higher ups were hard pressed on treating him as some kind of pawn, they were in for a rude awakening.

His days of playing pawn ended the moment he heard that thrice damned prophecy and they were not exactly filled with fond memories. Closing his eyes, Harry concentrated on his connection with the tattoo on his chest. The tattoo of the Deathly Hallows that had appeared when the three powerful artifacts bonded with him. The circle that represented the Resurrection Stone itched for half a second and he felt a rush of power into the tattoo, when the rush stopped, he opened his eyes to see Daphne Greengrass looking back at him.

"How am I here, Harry?" she asked in confusion as she tried to lean on the table only to pass right through. "What is happening?"

"I summoned you." Harry answered and got a raised eyebrow demanding for an explanation. "The _Deathly Hallows_ , I mastered them and now I can use either with a thought."

"So… you are the master of Death?"

"It is complicated really." Harry shrugged summoning his Journal from its pocket dimension. "That is not why I summoned you though, are you just a shade or the real Daphne Greengrass?"

"I think I am Daphne, at least as much Daphne as one can be after they have crossed over." Daphne answered automatically before she blinked. "What just happened?"

"As the master of the Resurrection Stone…" Harry read from his notes in the journal. "… I can ask the summoned spirit anything and it will be compelled to answer me."

"How is that even possible?" Daphne asked with a glint in her eye probably thinking of the possibilities of such an ability.

"One of those powers of mastering the Hallows, I am still figuring out just how much I can do." He answered. "Though the compelling only works on those who were magical when alive so I have only used it on one person since I got here and she is the one that helped me in learning the little I know."

Harry had indeed experimented with his powers as master of the hallows. For the Resurrection Stone, he had been able to summon the full soul of the dead person from the other side and not just a shade. The soul summoned however while it had the character and memories of its life, there we no feelings attached to them. The people they used to love or hate mean almost nothing to the summoned souls and the stone only worked on magicals who had died in the same universe and Harry knew a little about them.

"Who?"

"The last magical person alive in this dimension." Harry answered before he opened a fresh page and looked at her. "Her portrait was not the best conversation partner so after I had enough knowledge about who she was I was able to summon her instead."

"Oh, that could be really useful." Daphne mused. "And what are the limits to its power?"

Harry thought for a moment before he shrugged. While she wasn't the same person he had loved, she was still Daphne so there was no problem telling her.

"Well, the summoned spirit must have been for a magical person and they must have died from that particular dimension where they are being summoned from." Harry explained. "I am capable of summoning you from here because your soul crossed over from in-between universes in the Soul Dimension."

"Wait, so the soul dimension is in-between worlds?"

"Yes…" Harry answered slowly wondering where this was going.

"And how many entrances does it have?"

"I don't understand; I can enter from anywhere."

"And exit from anywhere, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Is it possible that you could have been able to travel to our universe by entering the soul dimension from here and then exiting it from our universe?" Daphne asked looking at Harry intently and Harry frowned as he considered the question.

Could it have been possible, but Luna would have told him as she knew just how much he wanted to visit his family. Then again, she could have withheld that information just to let things work out like they did about a week ago to ensure her master's manipulations went through. Now that he thought about it, what Daphne was asking was very similar to how Illyana's teleporting discs worked as they focused on limbo using it as a go-between from her current location to her destination only on a larger scale.

"It is possible I think though I am the only one capable of going there physically so I wouldn't have been able to bring other people with me." Harry answered.

Had he been capable of that he was sure he would have been able to avert the catastrophe last week. Shaking his head to dispel thoughts of Daphne's death, Harry refocused on the reason he had summoned her spirit in the first place.

"Now, how did four of the Marauders end up fighting a Daemon with an audience of fifteen Unspeakables?"

And so she told him.

The ministry had not been happy with Harry's disappearance and had tried to persecute the remaining Marauders putting the blame of his disappearance on them. The influence they had garnered however made them near immune so there was nothing that could legally be done against the lot of them. They had therefore been left alone though they were all being watched like hawks both magically and physically. The Marauders had all performed ant-summoning rituals on their kids the moment they reached seven.

Life had been as normal as it could be in the wizarding world for the next eleven years. The twins started Hogwarts and the ministry started getting desperate. They could see how powerful the two were going to be as well as the other kids of the marauders. Apparently, some of the rituals performed by the marauders crossed over to their children and there was a big gap between their kids and the rest of the Hogwarts children. So, seeing that they couldn't get to the adults, the ministry started attacking children.

Rose, Romello and Ryan Zabini, Hermione's kids were attacked in Italy when they had been taken by their father Blaise to visit their grandmother. About fifteen master assassins had attacked the Zabini mansion with the sole intention of killing the three children. They hadn't expected Blaise to come back that particular day and none of the assassins survived though they managed to kill the two boys as well as their grandmother. Sadly, Blaise was killed when he dived in the path of a killing curse headed for his twelve-year old daughter.

When Hermione arrived, Rose was sitting in the middle of a pile of bodies with her two younger brothers' dead bodies. The two remaining Zabinis retreated to the Zabini Cottage in Wales that wasn't very far from Peverell Manor and were almost constantly over to visit Daphne and the twins. Throughout the last year, there were numerous assassination attempts against the marauders' children and themselves. Many of which succeeded while others were dealt with and it was not until the point where Hermione was attacked in the middle of the great hall at Hogwarts that the seven remaining marauders decided to all move into Peverell Manor for the safety of themselves and their children.

Harry wondered why the twins never told him any of this in his last meeting with them but he figured he would ask them himself. When Harry met them last year at the beginning of November, Fleur and George with their eight-year daughter Victorie, Fred and Astoria with their two kids, Tonks was also there with her son as well as Gabrielle and finally Hermione with Rose. Apparently Tracey and Blaise had broken up shortly after Harry's departure and the perky girl had died about three years later.

There had been many numerous attempts at the Manor throughout the year but no one had been able to even approach the formidable ward at Peverell Manor. They had tried numerous times to try breaching them but failed all the time. That was until they decided to summon a Daemon as it would not only be able to pass through the wards thanks to its nullifying powers, it would be near unstoppable as there was no known method of killing one.

The Unspeakables had probably found a way of controlling one as they were known for being completely uncontrollable and unpredictable. Well that or they had hoped to be able to kill it once it was done with the marauders and their little kids.

Harry wasn't sure what to make of the ministry and its obsession with the Marauders and their families. He was sure there had been a number of powerful individuals before them and they had never been persecuted to that extent, most especially not after helping in getting rid of a bunch of terrorists. And if Luna knew all about this, why then did she not tell him. Was it that she never expected him to find out that the people he left behind so they could live in peace were never at peace at all? Surely she knew that Mia and Hadrian would tell him?

Harry shook his head and refocused on Daphne's tale. The Unspeakables had gone ahead and summoned two Daemons which they unleashed on Peverell Manor. The eight remaining Marauders fought like never before, pulling out every little trick they had learned through the war but there was nothing really working against the two hellspawns. The Weasley twins had the bright idea of overloading their magical cores and apparate right into the face of one Daemon with the hope that they would be able to save their children with their deaths.

It had worked as the explosion of pure magic had been enough to completely vaporize one Daemon without leaving even a trace. Astoria was unfortunately caught in the explosion and Fleur, Gabrielle, Tonks, Hermione and Daphne had been the only ones remaining. Every now and then, one would be caught by the Daemon and the others would try to overwhelm the thing for them to escape. One thing was clear however, they would make sure no harm came to their children even if it meant exploding themselves in its face.

By the time Harry arrived, Tonks and Fleur were barely standing as they had received many wounds from the Daemon and Gabriele wasn't faring that much. Hermione and Daphne were barely touched though using so much magic constantly was beginning to wear them down and because of that they had become sloppy. Daphne ended up being grabbed by the Daemon as she delayed apparating for half a second and was nearly torn into half. That had killed the moral of the others and had Harry not intervened then, they would have been slaughtered completely.

When Daphne's spirit was finished with her tale Harry sent her back from wherever he had summoned her from. He stood up and watched the ocean in the distance as he contemplated what he had just been told while considering his options. He had half a mind to storm the ministry and kill everyone he came across then use the stone to teleport everyone he cared about to this universe, level Gringotts after emptying it of gold. Somehow, he knew that that wouldn't sit well with the higher ups. While he wanted to grab his independence, at this point he wasn't powerful enough to challenge a deity without very serious repercussions.

His musings were interrupted by a hesitant knock on the door and he knew it was one of the twins or even both. Illyana never knocked unless she knew she had done something bad or when she wanted to manipulate him into giving her something. She was always so polite right from the start of whatever that conversation would be and even if he knew she was trying to milk him, he always ended up succumbing all the same.

"Come in." Harry called and his thirteen-year old son entered. "Hey Hadrian, how are you?"

"I am fine Dad." Hadrian smiled as he entered.

"So, what can I help you with?" Harry sat at the edge of the table and looked at the boy who was fidgeting with the helm of his shirt.

"I... I was wondering if we can do some shopping." Hadrian said quietly while Harry raised an eyebrow. He had gotten to know his son quite well and he was most definitely not shy.

"I actually was hopping Nat would come and help you guys with the shopping." Harry sighed as he stood up. "If Mia is anything like her mother then I am not so thrilled with the idea of being with her when we are shopping."

"I think she is worse." Hadrian snorted.

"Yeah, I guessed as much." Harry laughed and Hadrian did too. "Where is the little snake by the way?"

"She is playing with Illyana on the PS." Hadrian said and Harry could hear the exasperation in the boy's voice. "I never thought girls could be such fanatics for video games."

"Yeah, me too." Harry admitted. "Illyana came here and beat me up like my pad wasn't connected, from that time I gave up playing against her, in fact I keep away from that thing so long as she is in the house."

The two laughed together as Harry led him downstairs while Harry shared some of his most severe defeats at the hands of his apprentice. They found the two girls with their eyes glued on the screen and Mia paying with the same intensity she used on most things while Illyana was also playing with an intensity he had never seen her play with before. They didn't seem to even realize that they were being watched. Harry shared a glance with his son.

"How good are you with the paint spell?"

"I like to believe that I'm quite accomplished." Hadrian answered with a grin while his emeralds gained a mischievous glint.

Harry's wand appeared in his hand while Hadrian flicked his wrist and his wand slid into his. They both waved their wands in a similar motion from where they were standing in the doorway and two blobs of multi-colored paint appeared above the heads of both girls. Harry waved his waved and made sure that the paint wouldn't be dispelled for the next five minutes and shared another glance with Hadrian then they released the blobs. The paint succumbed to gravity and fell on the two unsuspecting blondes covering their hair and clothes.

The two girls shrieked in surprise and then anger when they saw Hadrian rolling on the ground with laughter.

"HADRIAN SIRIUS POTTER!" Mia shouted as her wand slid into her hand as well as Illyana's and they advanced on the boy. Hadrian sobered up when he realized that his sister hadn't said anything about Harry and looked but he was in the corridor by himself. He immediately stood up and took flight followed by the two angry girls. Illyana who had been the nearest to the door was close on his heels as she flung spell after spell at his retreating back though miraculously, none hit him.

Hadrian practically flew down the stairs to the ground floor as he fought to reach the door with Illyana right on his heel and Mia just a step behind the older girl. She was almost touching him when they reached the entrance hallway and she tripped on the umbrella stand taking Mia with her. Hadrian took the opportunity to escape to the safety of the grounds outside only to find Harry on the verge of passing out because of laughing too hard.

"Well executed Dad." Hadrian grumbled as he tried to catch his breath. The girls had stopped their pursuit when they fell after Mia tripping.

"The golden rule of pranking son…" Harry stated philosophically. "Never get caught unless it is part of the prank and always have and escape plan."

"How did you even get out here."

"Oh, I was there the whole time." Harry laughed. "There was no way I was going to miss the look on your face when you realized that you were part of my prank."

Hadrian grumbled in perseltongue as he followed his dad back to the house, a habit both kids had adopted from Harry whenever he was very upset. Harry just kept laughing at him until they reached the living room. Harry entered with Hadrian hiding behind him as the two girls glared at him.

"You ruined my hair; you moron." Mia hissed as she tried to kill her twin with her glare.

"It looks like an improvement to me." Hadrian answered and Mia glare intensified. Harry decided to intervene before Mount Euphemia exploded.

He waved his hand and vanished all the paint from both girls. Illyana had been quiet only watching Hadrian like a hawk and Harry knew that whatever retribution his apprentice was planning he most definitely needed to catch it on camera.

"I apologize for the behavior of my idiot son Mia sweetie." Harry started ignoring the sounds of disbelief coming from Hadrian. "…but I was thinking that maybe I can do something to relax you and also as punishment for his wayward behavior."

Mia raised an eyebrow and Illyana finally stopped boring holes in Hadrian's head and looked at him probably having a good idea what he was thinking.

"And what is that you are planning?" Illyana asked.

"Well, you guys have been here for a week and Mia was wearing Illyana's clothes while Hadrian was wearing mine so I was thinking_"

"SHOPPING!" Illyana exclaimed cutting off Harry then pulled a bemused Mia to her feet and dragged her out of the room to prepare.

"Well, you better get ready." Harry told his son who had a resigned look on his face. "Things are about to get rough."

"I guess." Hadrian sighed. "It can't be too bad though, right?"

Harry didn't share the sentiment.

Five hours later, Hadrian sank into the couch next to Harry.

"Finally." He sighed and Harry snickered to himself.

"It wasn't too bad."

"Easy for you to say." Hadrian replied quietly. "All you did was sitting there and reading newspapers."

"Well, you were the one who got caught during the prank." Harry told him. "Maye you should be more careful next time; wouldn't you agree?"

Harry was answered by a snore and he frowned at his son. He wasn't exactly the most entertaining conversationalist but someone sleeping on him in the middle of a conversation was very rude. No matter how exhausted the person was after acting the donkey and dress-up mannequin for five hours. He thought of pranking him to hell and back but when he looked at the peaceful sleeping face of his son, he just smiled and shook his head. A gesture from his ring teleported the boy to his bedroom as well as the bags full of clothes that the girls had picked for him.

Illyana had managed to integrate herself into the lives of the twins most especially Mia and Harry was very glad that she was there. The fifteen-year old had been able to help the twins get over the death of their mother at least as much as possible and in that process, they had warmed up to her so fast that you would think they have been living together all this time. Her shared love for Video games with Mia had been a bonding agent between the two girls and while Hadrian didn't share his sister's enthusiasm, he also loved the games. Only he was pants at it, just like Harry himself.

The three had created a certain friendship and Harry was ever so glad that things worked out between them. While Hadrian usually became a third wheel, there was a tentative friendship between him and Illyana. It also helped that Illyana was a very beautiful girl and Hadrian was a just on the onset of his adolescence. While there were absolutely no feelings between them, it made it easier for them to get along without making things awkward.

Harry stood up and went to check on Mia's room which was just next to Illyana's. he found the girl already asleep in her newly acquired pajamas, her honey blonde hair spread over the pillow. She was snoring lightly and her lips were slightly open. Harry found the sight to be very cute and couldn't stop his lips from stretching into a smile. As if detecting his presence, Mia's eyes fluttered open and her emeralds peered at him through her eyelashes.

"Dad?" Mia asked softly.

"Good night sweetheart." Harry told her as he kissed her forehead. She mumbled some unclear words and burrowed further into the pillow while pulling the coves closer.

Next her checked on Illyana and he found her sleeping on top of the covers still in the clothes she had been wearing when they went shopping. Shaking his head, he levitated her off the covers and covered her. He then transfigured her dress into more comfortable clothing and kissed her cheek as well. Just as he was going, she grabbed his hand in a very firm grip.

"Stay." She ordered sleepily and Harry shook his head. He pried the fingers off his hand and told her good night.

He was just going to check on Hadrian when the wards informed him of Natasha's arrival. He went to the living room and waited for her. She was still dressed in her Black Widow suit and looked completely exhausted. She walked right up to him and hugged him tightly with Harry hugging her back with the same intensity. Her body was flushed onto his and one would think they were trying to physically merge into one person. He reveled in the feel of her body pressed on his as he buried his face in her red hair breathing in the familiar smell.

"I've really missed you." Harry breathed pressing her tighter.

"I think I did too." Natasha replied when they finally moved apart. "You look like shit."

Harry raised an eyebrow at her appearance and she chuckled.

"Yeah, I know I don't look any much better but I have never seen you look this exhausted." Natasha pointed out. "You even have a beard and your hair is messier than I have ever seen it."

Harry sighed and sank down on the couch. Natasha looked at him worriedly and sat down next to him.

"Let's just say the past week hasn't been very smooth."

"Tell me." Natasha demanded and Harry smiled at her.

"Not until you have freshened up, you look quite like shit yourself."

Natasha frowned at him but she knew he wouldn't budge no matter what she did. So she compromised that while she is getting her appearance back in shape, he would be doing the same. About one hour later, Harry came back to the living room looking more like himself and found Natasha already seated on the couch with a cup of steaming coffee. She was wearing a huge shirt over pajama pants and was seated with her legs crossed Indian style. Her red hair was longer than how she usually kept it, going up to the middle of her back centrally to the normal one which ended just at her shoulders.

Harry sat down and Triki appeared with another cup of steaming coffee which he gave to him. After thanking her, Harry looked at Natasha and his eyes couldn't resist roaming over her figure. By the time he settled on her light green eyes, she was smiling at him in amusement.

"You are usually more discrete when checking me out."

"Well, it has been like two months since I last saw you." Harry answered unrepentantly and allowed himself a second look over. "And I don't even remember when you last came here."

"You have been holed up here since Loki's situation." Natasha answered. "And you know I have been very busy. The Chitauri left their little toys here and a number of people have been very busy playing with them."

"How is that even going?"

"We have rounded up most of them, no thanks to you." Natasha answered giving him a pointed look.

"I am not a SHIELD employee." Harry answered.

"But you are an Avenger."

"No, I am not and you knew it." Harry insisted. "In any case, I am pretty sure Stark and Banner haven't been working with you."

"Banner hasn't been seen since Tony's party." Natasha answered with a sigh. "The last time I saw him, he asked me what you were up to, apparently you told him you would help him with his green problem."

"Shit, I had completely forgotten about that." Harry face palmed repeatedly in frustration while Natasha watched in amusement.

"Anyway, Tony has been holed up in his little penthouse just like you." Natasha continued. "He was pretty shaken with what you told me you guys saw up there in the portal and he has locked himself in his lab for the most time, only Pepper and Happy have any good idea what's going on."

"I can't really blame him." Harry admitted with a sigh and Natasha nodded. He had shared the memory with her and she knew firsthand what had actually happened. "if it hadn't been for Nym, we probably would have either been trapped there or simply annihilated by the blast."

"I know, and your healing him and getting rid of the shrapnel helped or we would be having a severe case of PTSD." Natasha told him and Harry nodded in agreement.

There are not very many men who could experience something like that and not be affected. While Tony Stark had seen a fair amount of _things_ , and had been in near life-death situations, he had actually never witnessed something like this. Seeing how powerless you are, knowing that despite anything you could do, your death was approaching and no matter what you do, you could just as easily speed up the process. Tony had frozen in his tracks, and that was not just because his arc reactor had failed.

Seeing about ten times the enemies they had fought all waiting to come and invade the planet and knowing that he was nearly powerless had nearly drained him of all hope. The fact that when his survival instincts finally kicked in he realized that he had no way of escaping and the Portal was blocked also caused him to panic. In his eyes, he couldn't see any way of escaping. He was staring Death right into the eye and he _knew_ that he had absolutely nothing to do about it would traumatize anyone.

The only reason Harry had not been affected that much was because he had seen a good deal of things himself. Living in the magical world where things from nightmares could come to life and with a bunch of people who have no problem helping them on their way numbed one to certain things. The fact that he was immortal and he knew it also made one's fear of death almost non-existent.

Tony though didn't have these and was indeed very affected. Therefore, Harry healing him and getting rid of the greatest block in Tony's life went a long way to help avert something of that kind. Now, Harry had given Tony hope that maybe he could do something to protect the world from the horrors he had seen up there and Harry could only imagine what the genius billionaire was up to in that home of his where he was 'holed up' as Natasha aptly put it.

"But enough about the others for now." Natasha's said. "You were going to tell me what has you looking like that."

And so he told her. He told her everything right from his research on a way back to his universe up to the shopping trip. He told her about the stone and gave her the secret of the Space Stone. He told her about his trip back to his universe, told her about Daphne's death, his conversation with Luna and Daphne in the Soul Dimension and his coming back with the twins. He then told her about his conversation with Daphne's spirit earlier that day and the situation that has been happening in the home universe.

He even told her of the prank he played on the three kids and then concluded with the shopping trip and his being dragged around New York by the girls. By the time he finished his tale, Natasha was seated behind him and his head was on her chest as she ran her hand through his hair.

"I am sorry about Daphne, Harry." Natasha finally said after a moment of silence.

"It is fine really." Harry told her. "She has been through too much and she is having her well-deserved rest. Now it is up to me to raise the twins into people she would be proud of."

"They couldn't have a better Dad." Natasha said and Harry shook his head.

"I am not so sure about that; I am not exactly Dad material."

"Well from what you have told me, you have been quite good at it for the last week." She told him. "And I will make sure you don't mess up much."

"Was that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Not exactly, and you have to admit that with the kids here, maybe Illyana won't suffer alone to keep you in line." Natasha said grinning down at him. "The poor girl was growing old very fast."

"Ok, now you are just insulting me."

"I am just being honest." Natasha replied. "You are quite a handful you know…"

"Oh, I will show you handful."

Harry turned in his position and tried to grab her waist but Natasha twisted and she ended up pinning his hands above his head on the couch as she straddled him. Harry raised his legs and slipped his thighs around her slim waist. He used the thighs to pull her back while at the same time lifting his upper body Natasha was caught by surprise. She recovered though and they struggled for domination, rolling off the couch and ended on the woolen carpet of the living room. They struggled from the ground, Natasha using her smaller body to her advantage as she twisted this way and that way hoping to gain the upper hand.

Harry's body however while bigger was enhanced by rituals and could do things that would make acrobats jealous. With his more significant strength, it was therefore not really surprising to either when Natasha ended up pinned on the ground with her legs wrapped waist trapping him while they both panted heavily. His elbows were on either side of her head while his hands pinned hers above her head.

"Well, we find ourselves in quite the position." Harry said between deep breaths while his traitorous eyes followed the rising and falling of Natasha's chest before coming back to her light green eyes.

He could feel her breath on his lips and her long nose was almost touching his.

"So do we." Natasha agreed softly, her eyes pinned to his shining slightly in the light.

Harry wanted nothing more than to reduce the little distance and kiss those pretty lips but he instead closed his eyes and took a deep breath dispelling the thoughts in his head as well as the emotions he knew were visible in his eyes. When he opened them, he saw that Natasha had been doing just that as well and she removed her legs letting him free. He wished she hadn't but he instead stood up.

"We should probably get some sleep." Harry told her leaning on the couch.

"Yeah." She said as she stood up and left the room. Just as she reached the door she paused and gave him one of those rare smiles of hers. "Goodnight Harry."

And she left before he could even reply. Harry spent about five minutes getting his hormones under control as he fought the urge to run after her before he finally settled down. He spent ten more minutes thinking of how he felt about the Red-haired Russian assassin. He knew he had feelings for her but how far those feelings went, he wasn't sure and most especially at this point after losing Daphne. Something told him that he had these feelings even before losing Daphne but he stubbornly ignored it.

Thirty minutes later, he was nowhere near discovering his feelings and he decided to go and sleep. Maybe it was simply because his mind kept reminding him of the feel of Natasha under him or the rising and falling of her bra-less breasts as she panted. Her beautiful green eyes and her full lips that had been practically begging for him to chew on them. But most importantly, he remembered the look in her eye, and he was very sure that look had been reflected in his.

-ANLANLANLANL-

The next day, Harry found himself at the dining table for breakfast. He was at the head chair and Hadrian sat on his right while Mia sat on his left. Illyana was seated next to Mia and they kept whispering to each other about something while Hadrian ignored them completely. Harry had been amused when he found that Hadrian tended to give his meal the outmost concentration and never talked while eating, something Daphne had apparently hammered into them. Mia was also the same but Illyana never allowed her to take more than a minute without whispering something in her ear.

At that point Natasha entered the dining room, fully dressed in Black Widow suit. She walked around Harry and kissed Illyana on the cheek like she does every morning when she sleeps over.

"Leaving already?" Harry asked as she sat down next to Illyana.

"Yeah, I just wanted to check on my favorite witch." Natasha replied loading bacon on her plate. "I'll be staying for the weekend though, when we come back from the party."

"What party?" Illyana asked.

"The Frost dinner." Natasha answered. "Harry was invited by Emma Frost, the new CEO of Frost Group of companies to a dinner party."

"I was?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Didn't I tell you last night?"

"Not that I remember and I just don't see why anyone would specifically invite _me_ for any party much less the CEO of the Frost companies."

"Well, you are the second shareholder in the Stark company with Tony being the major shareholder." Natasha told him. "Tony gave you 30% shares for saving his life and getting rid of the shrapnel after he had bought off all the other shareholders."

"And why am I just hearing of this."

"Like I told you last night, the both of you have been holed up in your respective homes." Natasha answered then she stood up. "Bye Illyana, try to keep him under control and it has been nice to meet you Hadrian and Euphemia."

Natasha walked out of the room and was given a box of donuts on her way out. The three looked at Harry and he shrugged.

"So, that was Natasha Romanoff I think I have told you all there is to know about her." Harry told the twins who exchanged a glance and then looked at the door wide eyed.

"That is the Assassin?" Hadrian asked and Harry nodded.

"But she doesn't look like one." Mia added.

"Yeah… she is so_"

"Pretty?" Harry offered and Hadrian nodded before he blushed furiously.

"Oh… someone has got a crush." Mia teased.

"No I don't." Hadrian argued still blushing.

"You do, too."

"No I don't."

"Do, too."

Harry exchanged an amused glance with Illyana as they continued arguing. However, his thoughts weren't exactly here and now. He had already decided that he was going back to his home universe for Hermione and the others whether Luna and her masters agreed or not, what concerned him though was if he would be opposed on this or not.

-ANLANLANLANL-

AN: Alright that makes another chapter, hopefully you guys stick around a little bit longer as we shall be seeing some action next chapter. Some of you may have forgotten that there were certain individuals trying to kidnap Illyana, next chapter, we shall be finding out. Thanks for reading and sticking with me.


	19. Chapter 19

**A NEW LIFE**

 **Chapter 19**

 _Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners._

-ANLANLANLANL-

 **POTTER COVE**

The next day after his early morning lessons with Illyana, Harry found himself in his study staring at the blue gem on his ring. He had not included the twins in the lessons yet as he gave them time to adjust to the change of environment as well as get used to their new home. However, the lessons would begin next week as he hoped that by the time other young wizards and witches started coming for training, there would at least be others to help him to teach.

That didn't stop them from doing some practice and currently the three teenagers were in the training room practicing what they knew and the twins were showing Illyana a bit of what they know while the older girl did the same. Harry was very happy that the three got along well. He wasn't exactly sure how that had really happened as he knew that if it had been himself, he would have had a harder time adjusting. Maybe it was because the two had not been with many friends and when they found Illyana who was very much willing to become one and didn't treat them demi-gods for being children of _The Harry Potter._

Either way, Harry wasn't complaining and he hoped that things stay that way forever.

Currently though, Harry's attention was mostly on the Space Stone in his ring. The Fidelius charm kept the knowledge of its existence from anyone on earth which meant that those who are off the planet like Asgard would most definitely know of its existence. When Harry activated the Fidelius, it wiped the knowledge that Harry was the one in possession of the stone from Loki and Thor which meant that even when they left earth, they knew that the Stone still exists even if they didn't know who really had it.

They knew that Harry had made for them the crystal that took them back instead of the Bifrost as was usual and he had expected Thor or at least someone from Asgard to come back and try to talk to him or even just try to contact him. However, nothing of the sort had happened. That bothered him for some reason though he wasn't exactly sure why.

That wasn't what was really bothering him at this time though. Lately, he had been using the Stone a lot. Almost every single thing that he used to do with or without magic and can be replicated by the stone he was now using the stone. It was like there was an unconscious urge to use the stone as much as possible, like it wanted him to use more of its power. Harry wondered if it was part of any infinity Stone since they were too powerful and always wanted their power to be used. Was that why Stephen almost never used his? To avoid getting dependent on the Stone for everything?

Because that was exactly what Harry was becoming. He was leaning too much on the stone for his liking, something that could easily be taken from him as it was never part of him in the first place. What happens when he loses it, or when he is forced to relinquish it for one reason or another. What happens when he uses the Stone too much and when he loses it, his magic is not enough anymore since he has gotten used to the power of the Stone. None of the thoughts running through his mind were comforting at all he decided he needed to talk to the Sorcerer Supreme.

With that thought in mind, Harry used his magic and teleported to the entrance of the training room which was very quiet. He entered slowly to find room had been transformed into a wizard dueling arena that they used back in his home universe in the Dueling Circuit. His eyebrows raised slightly at that and when he spied the three teenagers, his eyebrows raised even higher.

Hadrian was lying unconscious on one side of the arena sporting blue skin with Jelly legs. He was wearing a bright yellow women's swimming costume and he had smell plants growing on his face. His hands or where they are supposed to be had been switched by his feet while his ears were very huge. All in all, it made a very… curious sight and Harry wondered how comparing notes had come to this.

Looking at the other side of the arena, he saw Mia sporting a brightly colored skin with a rainbow of colors that seemed to change whenever Harry blinked. Her head had been shaved clean like a monk and her clothes were missing except two pieces of cloth wrapped around her chest covering her breasts and around her thighs covering her butt and front. He wondered where Illyana was before movement caught his eye and when he looked at the ceiling, he saw a human sized flobberworm stuck there that was wriggling trying to get itself free. His eyes met its brown eyes that were glaring at him like it was his fault.

His lips twitching uncontrollably and tears running down his eyes, Harry slowly and quietly backed out of the room and shut the door. And then he erupted. He laughed like a mad man for about a minute until he felt his ribs hurting. Even then, he would remember Illyana's look and then he would be caught in a fit of giggles which would end with more laughter. Five minutes later, he felt that he had composed himself well enough and re-entered the room. Everyone was exactly as he had left them. He waved his hand and released his magic with a simple command.

 _Finite._

The magic swept across the room repairing the destroyed arena turning it back to its original reached Hadrian who was nearest to the door and all the spells cast on him were negated and he woke up. Seconds later they reached the flobberworm who transformed back into Illyana and Harry caught him with his magic before she could fall on the ground. Mia was transformed as well and she groggily woke up. The three teenagers then looked at Harry's blank face and sported identical blushes.

"What happened here?" Harry asked in a cool clear voice crossing his arms.

"Sorry Dad." Hadrian started speaking. "I will not lie to you… they started it."

The girls gasped at him.

"You moron!" that was Mia, the girl was quite fond of the word when addressing her brother. "Who was bragging about having unlimited magic that dwarfed all us."

"I was only speaking the truth." Hadrian argued.

Harry's looked at them impassively. Hadrian of the three had the largest magical core, even bigger than Harry's when he was that age and he had the biggest core among his classmates at that time. Mia while not weak herself was significantly lower than her twin brother but what she lacked in power, she compensated in skill and during their mock duels she used to come on top most of the times though Hadrian had his fair share of wins himself. Illyana fell in between the twins with more than Mia and more skill than Hadrian.

"That doesn't mean it wasn't bragging." Illyana pointed out.

"Whatever happened here..." Harry interrupted them. "…I hope you don't try it again without me present. Your magic is in the process of transforming into maturity due to puberty and could be very unpredictable during high emotions."

Harry gave each of them a look and they looked at their feet.

"I hope I made my point then. Anyway, I am going to New York for a couple of hours and I'm not sure when I will come back." Harry turned to go but he was interrupted.

"Uhm, Harry wait." Illyana called and he stopped. "We, wanted to visit the X-mansion."

"Oh, ok. Just be careful and don't come back late." Harry told them. "Remember those guys who wanted to kidnap you are still out there."

"Yeah we shall be careful." Illyana assured him. "But we wanted to come with you. You could drop us at the mansion then you continue with your business."

"You have a port-key."

"I hate port-keys." Hadrian groaned and Harry had to smile to himself the boy was just as bad as he had been before the rituals which surprisingly Mia didn't share with her twin brother.

"Well you better get used to them as I will have to make for you each a mirror which will also be the means of transport to come here." Harry told him. "I will not be there all the time to bring you and your magic hasn't matured yet to allow to apparate."

"Does that mean you are taking us?" Illyana asked with a hopeful smile and Harry nodded. It would be nice for the twins to get to know others their age. Harry didn't want them to become loners like he had been back at Hogwarts and even before that at the Privet Drive.

"Well then you should go and prepare, I leave in ten minutes with or without you." Harry turned and left them as Illyana told the twins about her girlfriend and the other mutants.

Ten minutes later, Harry and the three teenagers appeared in front of the X-mansion. Illyana immediately ran into the mansion while the twins followed Harry at a more sedate pace. Just as they reached the front porch, Harry turned to them.

"You should be fine here but just in case something happens, use Illyana's port-key and get the hell out of here as fast as possible, alright?" the twins nodded and Harry entered. He found Chares and Ororo in the entrance hall as they prepared to go somewhere while Logan was brooding next to the door. The other teenage mutants were also there and smiled when the Harry entered.

Anne and Jean rushed to him and gave him hugs while Kitty stayed where she had been standing next to Illyana. After the introductions and greetings were done with, Harry excused himself and left as the twins were given more personal introductions and offered to be shown around. He then apparated to the Sanctum knowing that they would be in safe hands.

Teleporting just at the edge of the wards, Harry cast a mild notice-me-not and dispelled his invisibility and matched to the ancient looking door. When he knocked, the door was opened by Wong who seemed for once happy to see him. He was led to the living room where Stephen, dressed in his battle clothes with his cloak on his shoulders was standing at the window watching the New York skyline.

"Thanks for coming Mr. Potter." the Sorcerer Supreme started still looking at the window. "I have wanted to talk to you for some time but I had no way of contacting you."

"Surely the 'master of the mystic arts' wouldn't have found something as mundane as communication very difficult." Harry smirked at the man who turned to glance at him for a second before he turned back to the window. "I am fine by the way, thank you for asking."

"I have some grave news." Stephen said and Harry raised an eyebrow prompting him to continue. "I have reason to believe that Belasco is active again."

"Say what now?"

"He has been for quite some time now." Stephen continued looking back at Harry. "He is working with a group of half-demon warriors known as Cat-people who nursed him back to heal when he escaped from Limbo."

"I knew I should have killed that bastard." Harry groaned taking a seat. "So what does he want now?"

"His apprentice obviously."

"Former apprentice you mean?"

"It doesn't matter." Stephen stated. "Even if he severed the connection when he fled, Rasputin had already been marked by his demonic magic and therefore he can easily reestablish the bond even with yours in place."

"Well, Fuck." Harry groaned again. "I guess I will have to kill the bastard then if she is to ever be free. Wait… so those kidnapping attempts, was it him trying to get her back?"

"I wasn't aware of any kidnapping attempts but that means that he has been active far longer than I thought." Stephen was frowning. "Though it gets worse."

"Please don't tell me she is prophesied to give him an heir."

"Belasco is not working alone."

"Yeah, you said he is working with the Cats." Harry replied and Stephen shook his head.

"No, there is more powerful someone he is working with that is enabling his minions to walk in this dimension freely." Stephen said seriously. "Someone very powerful that the former Sorcerer Supremes never even dreamed of fighting. Personally I am very sure I wouldn't be able to best him in a one on one fight. He however cannot interfere directly in the mortal realm without exerting so much power so he needs a minion to do his dirty work for the most part. However, with Belasco…"

"He has an ally." Harry finished with a nod of understanding.

"Yes and while Belasco has his own limitations concerning the mortal plane, this guy has almost twice the number but if they become allies, then he can reduce on Belasco's." Stephen explained. "It probably because they haven't exactly reached an agreement yet that there hasn't been any bold activity but if they do ally, Belasco can directly appear on the mortal plane with Dormammu's powers."

"Dormammu… can't say I have heard of him before." Harry said.

"Then I imagine he wasn't there in your universe." Stephen conjured a holographic image of the being and Harry let out an impressed whistle.

"Quite imposing." Harry commented and Stephen nodded in agreement.

The humanoid looked to be about 6'1'', powerfully built and was dressed in a skintight violet suit with red and yellow boots, a thick golden belt and red gloves. The humanoid's face was surrounded by flames.

"I haven't had the pleasure of facing him before." Stephen said. "However, my predecessor The Ancient One once fought him directly in the dark dimension and suffered a thorough beating despite her extensive knowledge in the mystic arts. However, luckily for her, during the fight Dormammu was drawing on his realm's energies and weakened the barrier containing the _mindless ones_. The Ancient One had to work with the being to contain the beasts making him indebted to his opponent. She then demanded a binding vow from him to never enter the mortal plane on earth but it unfortunately left him the option of using others and in this case it is Belasco."

Harry was silent as he considered the Sorcerer Supreme's words when he ended his monologue.

"Well, let's get a move on." Harry suddenly stood up. "I am sure between the two of us we can handle him by ourselves and better we do it before he joins up with Belasco."

"Well as much as I would like to storm the Dark Dimension and kick his ass…" Stephen said. "We can only enter Dormammu's real with his permission or along with someone having permission."

"How did the Ancient One enter then?"

"Dormammu is quite arrogant or at least was and he drew her to his realm just for the sake of showing the other entities that he was very powerful."

Harry rolled his eyes, somehow he doubted that the entity would be repeating that mistake again.

"Well, it is a good thing that I have something that can take us _anywhere_." Harry answered with a grin.

"What do you mean?"

Harry was about to answer but he was interrupted when a very pale Wong burst through the door.

"Belasco…" the Asian panted. "He just attacked, the… the mutants."

"WHAT!" Harry shouted rounding on him. "What do you mean?"

"He attacked the X-mansion."

It took three seconds for the words to register in Harry's mind.

~ _fuck~_

And with that he disappeared from the living room.

"Did he just_"

"Yes." Stephen answered as he started creating a portal to Graymalkin Lane, Salem Center. "He teleported right through the wards."

Harry silently appeared right in the middle of the entrance hall of the mansion. He ignored the destruction around him as his eyes searched the room for his kids and apprentice. His eyes were immediately drawn to a head of honey blonde hair who was crying in Jean's chest and Harry strode towards her. As if feeling his presence, Mia lifted her head and looked up into her father's approaching eyes. She released Jean and ran into his arms sobbing.

"Shh, its fine, I am here now." Harry assured her as he squeezed her tighter.

"I am sorry Dad." Mia sobbed. "They took Harry and Lya and I couldn't even do anything."

"Its fine Mia." Harry said pulling back a little. "I am just happy that you are safe, now I don't have to worry about you too."

Mia just sobbed harder for about half a minute before she pulled back.

"We have to get them back, Dad." She stated resolutely. "We have to go right now and get them away from that _thing_."

"Of course sweetheart." Harry told her. "I am_"

" _We are._ " Mia interrupted him stubbornly. "We are both going to get them and I am not staying."

"You can't_"

"I most definitely can, Dad." Mia stated and Harry rubbed his temples.

"Look sweetheart." Harry said earnestly. "I know you can fight, and I wouldn't like nothing else than to have you watch my back but I can't fight to the best of my abilities if I am not only worried about your safety but also with the possibility of hurting you while I am trying to fight."

"But I can fight." Mia argued though Harry could see that there was less fire behind her words. "You have been teaching us how to fight, and I was able to hold my own when they tried to capture me as well."

"I know, and I have the most faith in your ability to fight." Harry told her. "But without me and the Sorcerer Supreme this place will swarm with all sorts of enemies, you need to remain as the interim Sorcerer Supreme and guard the mortal dimension from external threats until we can come back, can you that for me."

Harry by this point had pressed his forehead to hers and she nodded.

Harry stepped away from her to where Stephen was standing waiting patiently.

"Are you sure you can get us there?" Stephen asked and Harry nodded. he was just about to activate the ring but he was stopped by Ororo who was limping slightly.

"Take us with you." The beautiful African goddess said standing next to Logan and Charles. Harry shook his head.

"Like I told Mia, there are many enemies who wait for the smallest opportunity to attack this place." Harry said and Stephen nodded beside him. "There will be those that will try to attack now that Sorcerer Supreme will not be here."

Without waiting for a reply, Harry called for Nym who appeared on his shoulder and the two sorcerers disappeared with a flash of blue energy from the Space Stone.

-ANLANLANLANL-

 _ **DARK DIMENSION**_

 _ **LIMBO**_

"Do you ever shut up, kid.?"

"Of course, it's not like I sleep with my mouth moving." Hadrian replied indignantly. "But what in Luna's name was _that._ Is Illyana even still in there or something, she a completely different person and she even doesn't seem to know me at all."

"You will be facing worse soon enough boy." Storm told her cell-mate. "That is most definitely not Illyana and whatever Belasco has done with her, you will be following soon enough."

"Don't call me _boy,_ I will be making fourteen in three months and nothing I have ever learned could ever explain what just happened." Hadrian said. "One moment Illyana was being tortured and the next she had transformed into this… sexy demon who_"

"What do you know about sexy _little boy_ " a smooth voice with a purring tone to it asked from the door.

"I am not_"

"A little boy and will be making fourteen soon." Darkchylde interrupted his rant. "You have said that fifteen times now, all I hear is pathetic cries of a scared little boy."

"You know my father will destroy you, apprentice or not?"

"Potter is weak and pathetic compared to my Master." Darkchylde replied with a grin baring her sharp canines at Hadrian who drew back a little. "Just like his idiot of a son. Don't worry though, if he comes here he will only just be helping _HIS_ plans move faster."

"Wait, Potter is your father?" the Limbo version of Storm asked and Hadrian nodded, his scared eyes still trained at the sexy Illyana in front of him. "Well that explains a lot of things now."

"Look Illyana, that monster is not your master." Hadrian pleaded. "You don't have to do this, let's get out of here and that will help you."

"You think I need help?" Darkchylde laughed, her tail flicking from side to side. "Your little Lya is no more, she was weak and got crushed while I took over. I am way stronger than she could ever hope to be, better than her in every other way, for I AM DARKCHYLDE."

"That is all well and good…" Hadrian answered with a calm he didn't feel. "We both know that you are merely a merely a speck of dust compared to Dad, as well as Bela_"

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY HIS NAME YOU UNWORTHY MORTAL." Darkchylde shouted, her clawed hands gripping the rails of the cell, her red eyes glowing even brighter. "If Potter comes, he will merely be crushed just like his pathetic apprentice and son."

"Why don't you give me back wand and I can show you just how pathetic I am."

Darkchylde laughed at him, her clear voice carrying through the cells.

"The fact that you need a piece of wood to perform of the least bit of magic shows just how useless you are." She raised her hand and Hadrian's wand materialized in her palm. She held it delicately from both ends and without exerting even any pressure, she snapped it in half. "So delicate, and weak; just like the one who uses it."

She let the pieces fall from her fingers all the while smirking at Hadrian's horrified face. However, she looked down when the pieces didn't reach the ground. The two pieces slowly floated from the ground towards Hadrian whole magic-dampening shackles had fallen from his ankles. The two wand pieces came together and joined together the tip shooting a myriad of colored sparks in the air.

"Hello Illyana."

Darkchylde spun very fast at the sound of Harry's voice, the _Soulsword_ materializing in her hand but Harry simply grabbed her arm and flung her in front of a _Reducto_ that came from the Hadrian. The force of the spell flung her across the room into a stone wall creating cracks and nearly breaking one of her horns. She made to get up but a gesture from Harry slammed her back to the ground compressing the space around her making her unable to move like he had done with the Unspeakables.

Stephen had meanwhile been freeing the others.

"Dad, you came." Hadrian barreled into Harry.

"Of course, did you ever doubt that I wouldn't?"

"Not even for a second." Hadrian answered. "But we have to get out of here before the other ugly fellow comes back."

"Indeed, now I am going to send you back to your sister." Harry told him.

"But what about you?"

"I will be fine." Harry assured him. "And I will be right behind you, however, I need to show this idiot why it is a bad idea to fuck with Harry Potter's family."

"I could tell you 'LANGUAGE' but that would make me sound like Mia." Hadrian laughed and Harry just shook head. "Come back to us, Dad."

"I will. Promise."

A gesture from Harry's hand teleported his son back to the X-mansion. He stood up and looked at Stephen and Storm staring at him. The Dark skinned woman had aged though not by much and Harry wondered how much time had passed here in Limbo since he left.

"That one didn't argue." Stephen commented and Harry chuckled.

"I think it is because he wanted to get the hell out of here as fast as possible though he would have been impossible to leave behind had he been in Mia's place." Harry answered with a smile as he turned to Storm. "You look as godly as I remember, if not more so."

"We have a very big problem." Storm said walking towards the petrified form of Darkchylde. "Belasco did something to her that transformed her into this though I have no idea what."

"I think he simply used his mark on her to draw out her tainted consciousness." Harry said kneeling next to the girl, no, young woman in the floor. "I didn't know it was supposed to transform her though."

"Your son thought she was sexy." Storm commented and Harry glanced at her before he went to study Darkchylde again. Her skin was very pale and her right arm was covered in some kind of armor. Her chest was bigger with fuller breasts, slim waist and wide hips and very long legs. She had a bigger behind though it wasn't much bigger than Illyana's normal one though this one had a tail growing from where he assumed was the tail bone on a normal human.

Her facial features were sharper and seemed to have been made for seduction and her red eyes that were now glaring at him or the horns on her head did nothing to reduce on that effect.

"He does have an eye to be proud of for sure." Harry nodded to himself and Storm rolled her eyes.

"You are what, nine years older than your son?"

"That is the multi-verse for you." Harry replied standing up. "So what happened here?"

Belasco came back, more powerful and with a group of half-demons called Cat-people." Storm answered as the trio headed for the main door, Darkchylde floating just behind Harry. "However, the Demons of Limbo no longer recognised him as their king. Apparently when he snapped his connection with Limbo when he escaped, he transferred the kingship to his apprentice so Illyana is the rightful ruler of Limbo. You guys don't see, to be surprised."

"I had already figured that out." Harry shrugged. "And I am sure Illyana also knew though she wouldn't admit it even to herself."

"Anyway, he got his Cat-people fellows and with the help of someone even more powerful, he was able to come to earth and kidnap her." Storm continued. "About six hours ago, he came back with her along with your son. He did something to Illyana and he was able to create other Bloodstones which resulted into her being transformed into Darkchylde as she is calling herself."

"How many bloodstones does he have?" Stephen asked.

"Four."

"We need to act with haste." Stephen said and ignored Harry's snort at his choice of words. "We can't fight Belasco and Dormammu as well as the Elder gods at the same time."

"Oh, my God." Storm paused. "Belasco is working with Him?"

"Yeah and with the Beatrix Medallion almost complete…" Stephen trailed off though everyone understood the gravity of the situation well enough."

"Now I am beginning to think that we should have come with the mutants." Harry muttered. "While I am quite powerful, fighting Belasco's demons as well as these Cat-people and the Dormammu, not to mention the possibility of the Elder gods. Clearly we are awfully out numbered."

Stephen turned to the floating Darkchylde.

"You have to help us."

"And why would I even want to do that?" Darkchylde sneered.

"You consider yourself the leader of Limbo but unless Belasco is dead, your hold on the… throne will not be absolute." Harry told her even as she glared at him. "The Demons of Limbo will listen to you first and I know you want to kill Belasco almost as much as I do. So why don't we work together then."

"Don't presume to know me Potter."

"Oh, I know you alright." Harry smirked at her. "I k _now_ that you want to kill Belasco but you first want him to complete the Beatrix Medallion because you have no idea how to create a bloodstone by yourself. You think that it because of the four bloodstones that you now use that powerful sword and the armor on your arm and also believe that with the completed Medallion, you will be powerful enough to challenge Dormammu and take over the entire Dark Dimension. I know that you expect us to do the work for you as you can easily get out of the body-bind you are in. I _know_ that you have ordered the Demons not to come and attack us from here."

Harry's smirk continued growing more feral as Darkchylde's red eyes narrowed at him.

"I don't need to read your mind to know this because I _know_ you." Harry said as he lowered her to the ground. "I _know_ who you are, I _know_ that despite everything that has been done to you, despite everything you keep telling yourself, you _are_ still Illyana Rasputin and _I know_ Illyana."

The stared at each other for about half a minute, Darkchylde's glare intensifying while Harry just stared back unaffected by the glowing red orbs staring back at him. It also helped that even with her knew body, Harry was still way much taller than her. Eventually, Darkchylde pushed him out of the way and walked right past him and it was clear that she wanted them to follow her. Harry exchanged a glance with Dr. Strange and the Sorcerer Supreme gave a nod while Storm looked at the retreating back of Darkchylde and then at Harry in disbelief before she followed.

"That was pretty good." Stephen commented to him quietly.

"I wasn't sure it would work actually."

"And if it hadn't worked?"

"We will never find out now, will we?"

"You were going to need my help anyway." Darkchylde drawled as she led the way. "You wouldn't have been able to enter His realm without permission even with that little gem of yours."

"I am sure we would have found a way." Harry answered. "What do I keep telling you about magic and the impossible?"

"You taught Illyana, not me." Darkchylde spat and Harry chuckled.

"Whatever soothes your horns, sweetheart."

They followed her into some room, passing numerous demons that bowed whenever Darkchylde approached and Harry wondered how this had happened in such a short time. He was pretty sure Belasco never had that much respect even before his banishment. Or was it fear. Harry didn't presume to understand how demon hierarchy worked and he had quite a lot on his mind to try to figure out.

The room was circular in shape and had numerous runes traced on the wall all around. Harry understood most of them though there were some which looked completely knew. He walked around the room marveling at the work of art before him and taking note of how which rune was linked to another to create the Teleporting room he was standing in. Darkchylde walked towards one part of the wall and used one of sharp claws to slice her palm and smeared her dark red Blood onto what Harry knew was the central rune. The runes started glowing the same color as her blood the glow increased in intensity until it pained to look at.

Harry felt the shift in the magic as they were teleported to their destination and when he opened his eyes again, the light had vanished and they were in a completely different room. This one had more Runes than the former one and was in the shape of a pentagram. He could also feel the change of the magic in the air and almost an engulfing presence. Like something that seemed to be everywhere yet wasn't. He knew exactly what this presence was and he couldn't wait to meet him.

"What did Belasco want with my son?" He asked Darkchylde and Stephen and Storm stopped to listen as well.

"It wasn't Belasco who wanted your spawn, well not the one who wanted him the most." She answered. " _HE_ cannot enter the Mortal real because of the vows he made to the Ancient One. At least not physically."

"So he wanted a vessel." Harry said coldly, his face completely blank. Stephen did a double take at the transformation. The Harry Potter he had gotten to know wasn't there. Gone was the care-free man who always had a bored look on his face. The man who seemed to find a joke in whatever the situation he was in, at least the few they had been together. Now, he saw the Harry Potter who had fought and won a war, a Harry Potter he would never wish to stand against.

"That is good to know." Harry finished as his armor reappeared on his body. Someone was about to find out that you never fuck with a Potter. Too bad the fellow wouldn't live to regret that.

-ANLANLANLANL-

AN: Thanks for those who have stayed around up to now. I am not sure why I am still writing this story because personally I think I already fucked up the story. I know there are numerous plot holes here and there but please bear with me, things will be explained soon enough.

For those who haven't figured out yet, I am using Comics Dormammu as I wasn't satisfied with the one that appeared in _Dr. Strange_ the movie. He seemed to me to be too powerful and almost invincible and if it hadn't been for the _Time Stone_ Strange wouldn't have been able to save the world, at least that is what I think.

Anyway, next chapter I will give more information about my Dormammu for those who haven't read the comics. Till next time.


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